Governor Jay Inslee and local Democrats are being accused of using taxpayer funds in an attempt to bribe Washingtonians into voting against a bill that would repeal his disastrous Climate Commitment Act (CCA). Initiative 2117 would repeal the CCA, which has jacked the price of gas and utilities, as well as goods that are brought in via truck.

Inslee and fellow Democrats previously lied and falsely claimed that the increases would be mere pennies or even make gas cheaper. Instead, Washington had the highest gas prices in the US after the bill’s passage, which jacked gas prices by approximately $.50 a gallon. When Inslee’s economists tried to warn him, the economist was forced out of his job.

Let’s Go Washington launched a campaign to repeal the tax, which has failed to lower carbon emissions. After collecting the required number of signatures, I-2117 will now go to the voters in November.

Inslee is now touting a $200 utility rebate for low-income households in an attempt to bribe voters to vote not to repeal the CCA and now, thanks to the CCA, has a $150 million slush fund of taxpayer funds to pay for it.

Todd Myers, Vice President for Research at the Washington Policy Center, told The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI, "I've referred to it as bribing people with their own money because this money didn't exist until we started taxing people, increasing taxes on gasoline, natural gas and other energy." Myers added that according to the prices in 2023 for the average two-car family “they paid, just in natural gas and gasoline, an extra about $630.”

Myers continued, “On average for a low-income family with just one car and using about 60 percent of normal natural gas, they still paid over $300 more in taxes last year. So the one-time election year rebate of $200 doesn't come close to covering their cost in 2023, let alone this year or in the future years.”

He noted that the law and his calculations don’t “look into the inflationary impacts of charging more for diesel to ship products around or manufacture products. All of those other inflationary pressures on things that we buy every day are not included,” but they are added to the other utility and gas expenses.

The rebate was created after the backlash to the CCA and I-2117 was announced. It specifically states that the rebates will be withheld from low-income families if the initiative passes.

Inslee lied to KOMO News and claimed, “They’re trying to take away $200 from these families. Who wants to take away $200 credit from a family to help them with their costs of these low-income folks? That’s reprehensible. You know what else? It’s weird,” adding the talking point Democrats have been using against Republican Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance.

Myers told Hoffman, “Letters go out from all utilities in the state, and the state required all utilities to send out those letters, citing the Climate Commitment Act, the CO2 tax as the source of the funding, and required them to put the logo of the Climate Commitment Act on those letters. So they are absolutely trying to maximize the political benefit and the benefit for the election of these checks. So there's no doubt about where this money is coming from. And that's why they put that in there.”

“It is ridiculous because Governor Inslee has previously rejected cutting other taxes to offset the increase in prices or giving rebates,” Myers added. “Taking the tax money and then giving rebates is something that has been done and been proposed elsewhere. They do it in British Columbia. Governor Inslee specifically rejected that. Now, all of a sudden, when his legacy is on the ballot in the form of the CO2 tax, suddenly he relents and talks about what a wonderful thing it is to give rebates that he previously said were unnecessary.”