In the Bellingham debate, millionaire Brian Heywood defends the ballot initiatives he financed

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Millionaire Brian Heywood, founder of the political action committee Let's Go Washington, traveled to Bellingham to defend and promote four statewide initiatives that voters will see on their ballots this election.

Before a packed room full of Bellingham City Club members and guests on Wednesday, Oct. 16, Heywood sparred with state lawmakers and activists who opposed the initiatives.

The conservative hedge fund manager from Redmond funded seven ballot initiatives last year. Three of them were passed by the state parliament. Heywood's stated goal with the four measures voted on, I-2066, I-2109, I-2117 and I-2124, is to lower Washingtonians' cost of living, provide choice in energy and health care spending, and Protect residents from capital gains tax.

The initiatives have drawn the ire of opponents, including the Bellingham City Council, which symbolically voted to reject all four initiatives at a meeting on Monday, Oct. 14. Speakers who refuted Heywood on Wednesday and the coalitions opposing the initiatives say the proposals would eliminate funding for education, health care and infrastructure and jeopardize the state's transition to green energy.

I-2066 – Natural Gas

Heywood argued that I-2066 would keep the state “hell-away” from household energy decisions, or in other words, prevent the state from ever banning natural gas. This was in response to House Bill 1589, which created a roadmap for Puget Sound Energy to provide energy to its natural gas customers, but also in response to the new state building code requiring more fuel-efficient equipment.

District 40 Rep. Alex Ramel spoke against the initiative, saying its passage would make energy bills more expensive for customers because utilities would have to maintain natural gas infrastructure even as consumption declines.

I-2109 – Capital Gains Tax

I-2109 would eliminate the 7% tax on annual capital gains over $262,000 for individuals beginning in 2023. This income comes from profits from the sale of stocks and bonds and does not apply to real estate or lumber sales. Proponents of the initiative argue that the capital gains tax is a form of income tax, even though the Washington State Supreme Court declared it constitutional in March 2023.

Treasure Mackley, executive director of Invest in Washington Now, said during the Bellingham City Club meeting that the initiative would cut critical funding for public schools, higher education and child care. She pointed to the school construction projects and 170 childcare/preschool places created through the capital gains tax and said childcare is essential infrastructure that helps families and businesses.

Heywood accused the state government of making home daycares run by neighborhood mothers “no longer exist” and claimed that billionaires like Jeff Bezos are fleeing Washington because of tax policies. Bezos said he moved to Florida in 2023 to be closer to his parents and to Cape Canaveral for his rocket company Blue Origin.

“You should come to (Washington) to start a business because we don’t punish people who are successful,” Heywood said. Home and business sales are exempt from capital gains tax.

Mackley cited the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy's finding that Washington has the 49th most regressive tax policy in the country, meaning lower-income households pay a higher percentage of taxes than wealthy households. This rating improved from 50th place following the passage of the capital gains tax.

I-2117 – Cap and Invest Program

This initiative would repeal the Climate Commitment Act. Opponent and District 42 Senator Sharon Shewmake, a professor of environmental economics, urban economics and energy policy at Western Washington University, told the audience that the CCA is a “textbook environmental policy” that provides important tools for economic growth and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect public health and support infrastructure.

Heywood blames the cap-and-invest program — in which the sale of allowances or pollution rights at state auctions goes toward a wide range of climate-related investments — for the state's high gas prices. He also said the bill has no responsibility for reducing carbon emissions because the Results Washington data dashboard for the CCA does not contain information on emissions reductions. He called the CCA a “pit” and said agencies and organizations that benefit from it have agreed to support it.

Shewmake said she did not believe infrastructure investment was a hoax and called Heywood's claims “strange”, “deceptive” and “conspiratorial thinking”.

I-2124 – State Nursing Insurance

Initiative I-2124 would make it optional for workers to pay into WA Cares, a statewide insurance program that allows Washingtonians to receive a long-term care benefit that could be used for expenses related to care, medical equipment or meals. In a passionate exchange, Christina Keys, the founder of Keys for Caregiving, spoke about her 10-year experience caring for her mother and how expensive and painful the journey was. She said WA Cares' lifetime benefits of $36,500 had been a blessing.

Heywood said the law passed in 2019 is flawed and restricts some groups that need it most. He said not everyone who pays into the program has access to the benefits and therefore should be given the option to opt out. The No On 2124 campaign, however, argues that the initiative would effectively ruin the state's long-term care insurance program.

The entire Bellingham City Club program was recorded and will be posted online at bellinghamcityclub.org.

Julia Tellman writes about civic issues and anything else that comes across her desk; Contact her at [email protected].