Read this great news story about the judge agreeing w/ me and against the AG & the sponsor of those 5 liberal initiatives (all of them try to raise the capital gains income tax EVEN HIGHER).

They can’t print petitions or start collecting signatures until my litigation is resolved (and that won’t be until the end of June). Their deadline to get 400,000 signatures is July 8th.

Thurs, June 9, 2022

Read this great news story about recent court victory:

Tim Eyman court victory sets back 5 capital gains tax initiatives

Initiative activist Tim Eyman appears in Thurston County Superior Court in Olympia.

By Brett Davis, The Center Square, June 8, 2022

(The Center Square) – Anti-tax activist Tim Eyman’s legal maneuvering has succeeded in delaying efforts – including printing up petitions and gathering signatures – regarding five ballot initiatives that would make changes to Washington state’s code governing capital gains taxes.

Thurston County Superior Court Judge Indu Thomas sided with Eyman in a recent ruling against a request that all five cases be consolidated.

Eyman has filed five separate lawsuits claiming Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s ballot titles on Initiatives 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, and 1938 ignore the law requiring neutral wording.

Seattle attorney Eric “Knoll” Lowney, sponsor of the five initiatives, responded to Eyman’s lawsuits with a lawsuit of his own claiming the ballot titles weren’t favorable enough.

When the Attorney General’s Office asked for one judge to decide all five cases, Eyman objected, necessitating a hearing before Judge Thomas in Thurston County Superior Court.

Before allowing consideration on consolidation, Thomas posed a threshold question regarding whether Lowney erred in filing one lawsuit as opposed to five individual lawsuits.

In court briefs on the threshold question, Lowney and the state argued for consolidating the cases on the grounds of precedent, while Eyman claimed Lowney and his legal team violated state law and local rules by not filing separate briefs.

“A consolidated petition is an improper method to appeal similar ballot titles,” Thomas said in the findings of fact and conclusion of law portion of her May 26 ruling. “Consolidation is the purview of the Court and not the parties.

“The fact that the Court has in the past permitted a party’s consolidation, does not in and of itself support the proposition that consolidation is the correct result in these cases or that a consolidated petition is appropriate under the statue.”

On that basis, Thomas denied the request for consolidation.

“IT IS ORDERED that the 5 initiatives shall be severed,” she said.

On his Permanent Offense website, Eyman hailed Thomas’ ruling as an important victory against what he called “5 liberal initiatives that try to raise the capital gains income tax EVEN HIGHER.”

The five initiatives would do one or a combination of the following: raise the threshold of capital gains above which capital gains tax must be paid, add or increase capital gains tax exemptions, and add a surtax or increase capital gains tax rates for higher capital gains amounts.

Last year, the Legislature passed and Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law legislation creating a 7% tax on the profits of sales of assets, such as stocks and bonds, above $250,000.

The Center Square reached out to Lowney for comment on the decision but received no response.

The Attorney General’s Office was similarly tight-lipped.

“This is a procedural ruling about action taken by an initiative sponsor, not our office,” Brionna Aho, communications director with the Attorney General’s Office, said in an email to The Center Square. “As such, we wouldn’t have a particular comment.”

The ruling by Thomas makes the task of gathering signatures to get the initiatives on the ballot in time all the more difficult. Hearings with five different judges who will decide the wording for the five initiative ballot titles will have to be scheduled. Only after the judges issue their rulings can petitions can be printed.

According to Secretary of State’s website, to be certified petitions must contain at least 324,516 registered voters, with a recommendation that at least 405,000 signatures be gathered to allow for invalid signatures. Petitions must be submitted no later than 5 p.m. on July 8.

— END —

If I hadn’t filed my lawsuits, the liberal groups supporting these horrible initiatives would have had nearly 2 months to collect those signatures.

Now they don’t.

Is it any wonder Bob Ferguson wants to prohibit all my future political activity?

Please donate to my legal defense fund today:

Mail-in donation: Tim Eyman Legal Defense Fund, 500 106th Ave NE #709, Bellevue, WA, 98004
Or donate online:
By PayPal
By Credit/Debit

Appealing the AG’s ridiculously unconstitutional restrictions on the First Amendment is absolutely critical. Because if he gets away with it with me, he’ll just target someone else.

And I refuse to let that happen.

I’m only here is because of the love and support of folks like you who’ve watched this gross abuse of power by the AG and are willing to help me and my family get through this.

I love you all.

And now a message from Larry Jensen & Sid Maietto:

We’re asking folks to donate to our PAC so we can keep fighting for taxpayers with attorney Joel Ard’s initiative: STOP ALL INCOME TAXES.

The taxpayers of Washington need our help now more than ever. Donate to our political committee so we can keep fighting for you:

Mail your check — made payable to “Permanent Offense I-1499” — to: Permanent Offense, PO Box 6151, Olympia, WA, 98507
Or donate online: PermanentOffense.com

Kindest Regards,

Sid Maietto & Larry Jensen

— END —

Thanks everyone.

Larry, Tim, & Sid