OLYMPIA, Wash – On January 16, Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs certified I-2117, an initiative to repeal provisions of the Climate Commitment Act by prohibiting any carbon tax credit trading. The initiative received about 420,000 signatures to qualify for the November ballot.

As ranking member and lead Republican on the Environment, Energy and Technology Committee, Washington State Senator Drew MacEwen requested the Committee Chair, hold a public hearing.

Article II, section 1(a) of the Washington State Constitution states, “The first power reserved by the people is the initiative” and “Such initiative measures, whether certified or provisionally certified, shall take precedence over all other measures in the legislature except appropriation bills and shall be either enacted or rejected without change or amendment by the legislature before the end of such regular session.”

“Article II gives people the power to reject laws passed by the legislature,” MacEwen said. “The people have spoken, and the initiative should take precedence. The chair needs to hold a public hearing.”

Prior to the certification, during a January 8 TVW Inside Olympia taping, the committee chair stated he would hear the initiative if it were certified.

The Climate Commitment Act places several taxes on consumers. The increased costs on fuel recipients and fuel suppliers raise prices at the pump, the grocery store, and on home heating bills, impacting the pocketbooks of all Washingtonians.

“The Climate Commitment Act has been extremely hard on working-class families. They are upset and deserve their voices to be heard,” MacEwen said. “The administration has failed in transparency. They knew there would be significant increases in fuel costs, just like California has realized. Instead, they claimed the tax would ‘have a minimal impact.’ How could they not know the financial impact of this legislation? After all, it was modeled after California’s carbon laws.”

According to AAA’s state-by-state gas price averages, Washington’s average gas price is $4.01 a gallon, which is $0.94 higher than the national average. It is estimated that the Climate Commitment Act has increased gas costs by $0.25 to $0.50.

“They need to be transparent with voters,” MacEwen said. “At the end of the day, families are suffering from the increased costs of the Climate Commitment Act. We need to find a better way to achieve collective goals and it starts with a public hearing on I-2117.”