By Bill Lucia | Editor
Two lawsuits are challenging state-written wording that will appear on the November ballot alongside the initiative that is aimed at overturning Washington’s new income tax on high earners. At issue is what’s known as the public investment impact disclosure, a statement of up to 15 words intended to let people know what the effects on the budget would be if a ballot measure affecting state revenue is approved. Let’s Go Washington, the group behind Initiative 645, says the statement is inaccurate and biased against the measure. Meanwhile, an open government activist is also challenging the neutrality of the wording and raising broader legal questions about whether the statements amount to an unconstitutional infringement on the citizen initiative process.
Also in today’s edition…
The Trump administration asks the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the president’s executive order on mail-in voting.
And, crime around the U.S. declines to historic lows.
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A volunteer for Let's Go Washington unloads boxes of petitions for Initiative 645 at the secretary of state's office on July 2. (Photo by Jerry Cornfield / Washington State Standard)
By Jerry Cornfield
The public investment statement for I-645 reads: “This measure would decrease funding for public K-12 education, higher education (including universities and community colleges), and human services (primarily healthcare).” The state attorney general’s office drafts the statements.
Let’s Go Washington argues that if the measure passes, it will result in savings for the state and translate into an increase in funding for the budget that runs through June 30 next year. The group criticizes the statement for projecting fallout for future budgets. The group’s proposed rewrite: “This measure would increase funding for the 2026-2027 state general fund, which primary investments are medical assistance-programs, public instruction, and higher education.”
The activist who brought the other lawsuit, Arthur West, said the public investment statements essentially give the state the last word in the initiative process. This ability “to alter the official ballot presentation of a completed initiative petition after petition circulation has concluded exceeds the Legislature’s authority,” his suit says.
By Jacob Fischler
The Trump administration on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to halt a lower court ruling that blocked President Donald Trump’s March 31 executive order restricting vote-by-mail. The move came two days after a federal appeals court denied the administration’s request to resume the controversial plan, which would force vote-by-mail limits and voter information collection requirements on states.
A three-judge appeals court panel agreed with a district court ruling that blocked the order because the U.S. Constitution grants states — not the president — authority to administer elections. The appeals court pointed to the approaching midterms as a reason to put the order on hold for now. A full analysis of the executive order could be considered on a longer timeline, but state election officials faced imminent consequences if they did not begin preparing for the order’s requirements in time for the November general election and September primaries, the judges found.
Washington is among the 23 states with Democratic officials who are challenging the executive order.
By Jennifer Shutt
Also on Monday, Trump called on the U.S. Senate to cancel its five-week August break, keeping lawmakers in session to advance several of his priorities, including a voter ID bill, despite not having the votes. “John Thune should not allow the United States Senate to ‘leave town’ until it passes The Save America Act or, far better still, TERMINATES THE FILIBUSTER, where Republicans can then quickly pass everything they ever dreamed of, including a full and deep throated SAVE AMERICA ACT, the Budget, and the ever looming Debt Ceiling disaster, 1929!” Trump wrote on social media. “The Dumocrats will do it on day one, and can’t believe how lucky they got with this Senate leadership. Remember, stupidity always brings LOSING & DEATH!”
By Amanda Watford
Crime rates continued falling across a sample of large U.S. cities in the first half of the year, with homicide rates dropping enough to put the nation on track for another historic low in killings. A new analysis from the nonpartisan think tank Council on Criminal Justice found that nine of 13 crime categories tracked in 36 cities declined compared with the first six months of 2025. Homicides fell 18% in the first half of the year, with 215 fewer killings among the 30 cities that reported data for the offense. The decline builds on a trend that began in late 2022 after homicide rates surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers cautioned that the data do not reveal what’s driving the decline, nor do they support crediting any single policy or intervention.
ICYMI
Parents worry WA developmental disabilities program is about to get axed | by Jake Goldstein-Street
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