Voters will not have to wade through any initiatives on this November’s ballot after the groups working on the two most likely initiatives pulled the plug on their signature gathering efforts.

Back in early June it appeared that two initiatives may have been headed to the ballot if they submitted enough signatures by the July 8 deadline.

Initiative 1929 would have repealed the State’s capital gains tax. The 7% tax on the sale or exchange of long-term capital assets such as stocks, bonds, business interests, or other investments and tangible assets took effect in January 2022 with the first payments due on April 18, 2023. The law has been challenged in court and was held unconstitutional by a Douglas County Superior Court Judge earlier this year. The Supreme Court just announced that they have accepted the case on direct review skipping the appeals court process.

Backers of the initiative cited focusing on the legal challenge instead of pursuing an initiative.

Initiative 1922 would have decriminalized drug possession and provided funding for substance use disorder prevention. The backers of this initiative reported raising over $3 million and spending over $2.5 million, but still didn’t think that they would meet the signature gathering threshold. Backers have indicated that they will look to pursue legislation in 2023 to accomplish their goals.

While no Initiatives to the People will be on the ballot, the other initiative option remains available. Initiatives to the Legislature have until the end of the year to gather signatures. When an initiative is submitted to the legislature, the legislature has three options:

• Adopt into law the initiative as presented;
• Adopt an alternative to the initiative and then both the alternative and the original initiative are sent to the voters; or
• Do nothing and allow the initiative to go to the voters.

The Secretary of State’s Office has more information on the initiative process and initiatives that have been filed.