Washington’s Paramount Duty endorses No on I-2109

Parent group fought for capital gains tax to fund public education, vows to defend it at ballot box

Washington’s Paramount Duty, an organization of parents across the state committed to making the state uphold its constitutional requirement to amply fund public education, has endorsed a No vote on Initiative 2109 at the November 5, 2024 election.

“Washington’s Paramount Duty fought for years to get the legislature to pass a capital gains tax to help fund our public schools, and we finally won in 2021. The capital gains tax is generating hundreds of millions of dollars a year from the state’s 2,000 richest people for public education and other programs for our children. Taking it away would hurt those students. It’s crucial that we defend this at the ballot box, especially as more and more school districts face a financial crisis that the capital gains tax revenues can help solve,” said Robert Cruickshank, President of Washington’s Paramount Duty.

Washington’s Paramount Duty was founded in 2015 by parents across the state who were furious at the state’s failure to amply fund its public schools as Article IX, Section 1 of the state constitution requires. At the time, the state Supreme Court had held the state legislature in contempt and fined them $100,000 per day for failing to comply with the McCleary decision requiring the state to provide more funding for public education.

Washington’s Paramount Duty urged legislators to pass a capital gains tax in order to help generate more funds to meet the court order and amply fund public schools. Although the legislature failed to do so when they finally complied with the McCleary order in 2017, the legislature did finally pass the capital gains tax in 2021. Washington’s Paramount Duty mobilized the public to send thousands of emails and calls to legislators between 2015 and 2021.