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Newest Washington ballot measures · 5 min read

Washington's Supreme Court voided voter-approved I-2066 for combining four subjects.

Fact check: Initiative 2066 aimed to protect natural gas service for Washington homes and businesses. Voters approved it with 51.71% in November 2024. In September 2026, the state Supreme Court voided it 6-3 because it bundled four subjects into one measure. The court did not rule on natural gas policy itself.

Claim “The Washington Supreme Court struck down Initiative 2066, the voter-approved 2024 measure that aimed to protect access to natural gas for homes and businesses” True

Myth or fact? Tap to find out.

Four claims from the archive. A new set every day.

“Over the last 90 years, Washingtonians have rejected an income tax ten times” Tap to reveal

Mostly true

Voters rejected ten income-tax measures from 1934 to 2010, but approved one in 1932 that courts struck down.

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“Vaccines cause autism” Tap to reveal

False

Large cohort studies, including 657,461 Danish children, found no link between vaccination and autism.

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“It bans parents from using birth certificates” Tap to reveal

Misleading

The text never mentions birth certificates; it requires a provider's verification, which an original birth record might arguably support.

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“Using Tide laundry detergent causes cancer” Tap to reveal

False

EPA found no unreasonable risk to people using laundry detergents; its 1,4-dioxane concern is contaminated drinking water.

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Homelessness · 7 min read

Spending multiplied; fewer than 1 in 5 LA shelter residents got housing

Claim “Los Angeles multiplied its homelessness spending, yet homelessness rose and most people leaving city-funded shelter did not get permanent housing” True

Homelessness · 7 min read

Audits since 2022 repeatedly found LA and California can't track homelessness money

Claim “Audits have repeatedly found that California and Los Angeles can't track whether homelessness money is working” True

Education · 6 min read

California school spending grew twice as fast as peers'; adjusted scores trail

Claim “California's school spending per pupil grew about twice as fast as comparable states', yet lower-spending states outperform it once student demographics are considered” Mostly true

Education · 6 min read

Mississippi's reading scores rose above the nation's while spending among the least

Claim “Mississippi rose above the national average in 4th-grade reading after its 2013 literacy law, while spending among the least per student” True

Homelessness · 7 min read

California's homelessness grew faster than the nation's; most sleep outside

Claim “California's homelessness grew faster than the nation's, and it has the highest share of homeless people living outside among comparable states” True

Transportation · 6 min read

California high-speed rail: $15 billion spent, no passengers, several times others' cost

Claim “California high-speed rail costs several times more per mile than other U.S. and international projects, and about $15 billion has been spent with no passenger service” True

Government spending · 7 min read

California's spending per resident grew twice as fast as peers'; results didn't

Claim “California's state spending per resident has grown far faster than in comparable states, without a matching improvement in results” True

Homelessness · 6 min read

No audit has found billions in LA homelessness money lost to fraud

Claim “Billions of dollars in Los Angeles homelessness money were stolen or lost to fraud” Misleading

Homelessness · 10 min read

LA's homelessness budgets multiplied after 2016; homelessness rose by more than half.

Claim “Los Angeles has spent far more on homelessness since 2016, yet more people are homeless there now than before the spending surge” True

Briefing Homelessness

California spending and results: homelessness, schools, health care and rail, checked

What FactHub has checked about how fast California's spending grew compared with Texas, Florida, New York and the U.S., what results followed in homelessness, schools, Medi-Cal and high-speed rail, and what auditors and prosecutors found. Each rating comes from a linked fact check.

Washington I-638 (2026) · 8 min read

Anatomy and chromosomes identify nearly every student's sex; testosterone works after puberty.

Claim “None of the three ways I-638 lets doctors verify sex is accurate” False

Washington I-638 (2026) · 8 min read

Opponents say the exam claim moves voters; I-638 requires no exam.

Claim “The No campaign's lead argument against I-638 is that it requires genital exams, and an allied group says its polling shows that argument turns voters against the measure” True

Energy and AI · 6 min read

The biggest AI data centers use as much electricity as hundreds of thousands of homes

Claim “The biggest AI data centers use as much electricity as hundreds of thousands of homes” True

Nevada Question 7: voter ID · 7 min read

Research on voter ID and turnout is mixed; the largest study finds no drop.

Claim “Studies have shown that strict voter ID laws reduce turnout among underserved communities and communities of color” Misleading

Nevada Question 7: voter ID · 7 min read

About 21% lack an up-to-date license; about 1% lack any photo ID.

Claim “Almost 21% of all voting-age Americans don't have a valid driver's license with their current name and address” Misleading

Nevada Question 7: voter ID · 6 min read

Nevada lawmakers passed voter ID in 2025; Governor Lombardo vetoed it.

Claim “Nevada's Legislature passed a voter ID bill in 2025, and Governor Joe Lombardo vetoed it” True

Briefing Washington I-638 (2026)

I-638: what it does, and what each side claims

Initiative 638 would limit girls-only school competition in Washington to students the measure defines as biologically female, verified by each girl's health care provider. This briefing lays out what the measure does, every checkable claim each campaign made in the voters' pamphlet, and FactHub's fact checks of them.

Technology · 5 min read

Any modern iPhone far outpowers the computers that flew Apollo 11.

Claim “Your iPhone has more computing power than the computer that took Apollo 11 to the Moon” True

Politics · 4 min read

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson called herself a Marxist on public radio.

Claim “Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson is a self-admitted Marxist” True

Washington I-001 (2026) · 8 min read

Under I-001, abuse investigators still decide when suspected parents are told.

Claim “Under I-001, schools would have to tell parents when their child reports abuse, even when a parent is the suspected abuser” Misleading

Washington I-001 (2026) · 8 min read

Democrats who passed I-2081 rewrote it a year later, blocking a referendum.

Claim “Legislators who passed Washington's Parents' Bill of Rights in 2024 rewrote it in 2025 with an emergency clause that blocked a referendum” True

Washington I-001 (2026) · 9 min read

Washington parents can already see most school counseling records.

Claim “If the initiative passes, those [mental health] documents could be released to parents. Currently, they are shielded” Misleading

Washington I-001 (2026) · 10 min read

Louisiana's version of I-001 has no documented abuser-records case in 12 years.

Claim “Louisiana's version of I-001 has been in effect since 2014 without a documented case of an abusive parent obtaining a child's counseling records” True

Washington I-638 (2026) · 11 min read

A doctor's checkbox could satisfy I-638 for most girls; the box is new.

Claim “A doctor will simply check a box on a physical form that already exists to confirm a child’s sex” Mostly true

Washington I-638 (2026) · 10 min read

Initiative 638 requires sex verification for girls, not an invasive exam.

Claim “I-638 won’t create opportunities for girls but it will force them into invasive sex verification exams in order to participate in sports” Misleading

Washington I-638 (2026) · 9 min read

Few mainstream I-638 news stories reported the facts that answer opponents

Claim “Mainstream Washington news coverage of I-638 seldom told readers the facts that answer the opponents' main arguments” True

Washington I-638 (2026) · 12 min read

Schools disciplined or investigated students who objected to transgender athletes or locker-room policies.

Claim “Students who objected to transgender athletes in girls' sports or locker rooms have faced school discipline or investigation in several documented cases, some ending in settlements or federal findings” True

Washington I-638 (2026) · 9 min read

Individuals fund most of I-638's Yes side; a foundation and unions fund No.

Claim “Individual donors other than Brian Heywood supply most of the money backing I-638, while a foundation and unions supply most of the money opposing it” True

Washington I-638 (2026) · 10 min read

Most girls could meet I-638's sex verification rule at a no-cost checkup.

Claim “Verifying a girl's sex under I-638 would cost most families little or nothing beyond the sports physical they already need” Mostly true

Washington I-638 (2026) · 10 min read

Girls' sports participation rose in states that passed laws like I-638.

Claim “Girls' high school sports participation rose in states after they passed laws limiting girls' teams to female students” True

Washington I-638 (2026) · 9 min read

Washington's rules let transgender girls compete in girls' school sports.

Claim “Washington currently allows males to compete against girls” True

Washington I-638 (2026) · 8 min read

The Yes campaign's 269 girls'-event placements check out, from ten athletes.

Claim “Washington competition results document at least 269 placements by male athletes competing in girls' interscholastic categories, including 74 firsts and 156 top-three finishes” Mostly true

Washington I-638 (2026) · 8 min read

Most state girls'-sports laws reach further than I-638, except in verifying every girl.

Claim “It's the Most Extreme Proposal of Its Kind In The U.S” Misleading

Washington I-638 (2026) · 8 min read

The IOC, World Athletics, the WTA and federal policy now restrict the female category.

Claim “Federal law, the Women's Tennis Association, World Athletics, and the International Olympic Committee have all adopted policies to protect eligibility for the female category” Mostly true

Washington I-638 (2026) · 9 min read

Pediatric checkups already document sex, though many Washington girls lack a regular provider.

Claim “Standard primary pediatric care already verifies sex; transferring that record to sports is sufficient” Mostly true

Washington I-638 (2026) · 6 min read

Under I-638, a birth certificate alone can't prove a girl's sex for sports.

Claim “It bans parents from using birth certificates” Misleading

Washington I-645 (2026) · 10 min read

Washington's millionaires tax can reach households where no one earns $1 million.

Claim “Washington's millionaires tax can reach households where no one earns $1 million a year: couples share one deduction, one-time income counts in full, and the threshold keeps up with only about half of inflation” True

Washington I-645 (2026) · 12 min read

Washington's top-earner income swings sharply, and its new tax has no reserve.

Claim “The income Washington's millionaires tax relies on has fallen by a third to a half in a single year, several times the state's worst general-fund drop, and the law sets aside no reserve” True

Washington I-645 (2026) · 8 min read

Ten payments supplied half of Washington's first-year capital gains tax.

Claim “The 10 largest payments supplied 51% of Washington's first year of capital gains tax revenue, and collections swung from $782 million to $395 million to $1.5 billion” True

Washington I-645 (2026) · 9 min read

Washington's millionaires-tax estimate assumes no response; studies show high earners respond.

Claim “The state's revenue estimate for the millionaires tax assumes high earners won't change their behavior, though the leading study of California's 2012 increase found responses erased 45-61% of the expected new revenue, mostly through less reported income rather than moving” True

Briefing Washington I-645 (2026)

I-645: what it does, and what each side claims

Initiative 645 would repeal Washington's 9.9% tax on household income over $1 million and bar state and local income taxes. This briefing lays out what the measure does, every checkable claim each campaign made in the voters' pamphlet, and FactHub's fact checks of them.

Washington I-645 (2026) · 5 min read

Washington's jobless rate tied for highest only in June 2026; it now ranks sixth.

Claim “Washington's unemployment is now tied for highest in the nation” Misleading

Washington I-645 (2026) · 10 min read

Most No on 645 money comes from unions paid through the state budget.

Claim “Most of the money opposing I-645 comes from unions whose members' pay is set in contracts funded largely from the general fund this tax would feed; the state refused one of them 2027-29 raises, citing a shortfall, and proposed a wage freeze for another” True

Washington I-645 (2026) · 8 min read

Few I-645 news stories said no current budget relies on the tax

Claim “Mainstream news coverage of I-645 rarely told readers that no current state budget relies on the tax or that its tax relief survives repeal” True

Washington I-645 (2026) · 9 min read

Washington's spending growth beyond inflation is 5-9 times the millionaires tax's 2027-29 revenue

Claim “Washington's general-fund spending has outgrown population and inflation by about $17-21 billion a biennium since 2013-15, five to nine times what the millionaires tax would raise in 2027-29” True

Washington I-645 (2026) · 7 min read

Within four years, Washington raised its capital gains tax and amended its income-tax ban.

Claim “Four years after enacting its 7% capital gains tax, Washington added a 2.9% surcharge on gains over $1 million, and two years after adopting I-2111's income-tax ban, it carved the millionaires tax out of it” True

Washington I-645 (2026) · 6 min read

Washington's 9.9% millionaires tax would tie for the fifth-highest top state rate.

Claim “The millionaires tax would take Washington from no income tax to one of the five highest top state income tax rates” True

Washington I-645 (2026) · 7 min read

Public pensions lose their exemption from Washington's millionaires tax above $1 million.

Claim “The law removes public pensions' exemption from this tax: pension, IRA and taxable Social Security income count toward the $1 million, though only households above $1 million owe” True

Washington I-645 (2026) · 6 min read

Most of Washington's millionaires tax is new revenue, not a tax swap

Claim “Washington's millionaires tax is mainly a tax increase, not a tax swap: the state keeps about 70% of the revenue after the tax cuts passed with it” True

Washington I-645 (2026) · 5 min read

Repealing Washington's millionaires tax is worth about $13 billion, not $300 billion

Claim “I-645 [is] a ballot initiative that would give them a $300 billion tax break” False

Washington I-645 (2026) · 6 min read

Washington lawmakers could expand the millionaires tax without a public vote.

Claim “Any attempt to expand it to those of us making under a million would be decided on the ballot - voters always have the final say” False

Washington I-645 (2026) · 7 min read

Middle-income Washingtonians pay over twice the top 1%'s tax rate, by ITEP's estimate.

Claim “Washington has one of the nation's most upside-down tax systems, where working and middle class families pay a far higher tax rate than the wealthiest” Mostly true

Washington I-645 (2026) · 8 min read

Washington's $1 million income-tax threshold can be lowered by a simple majority.

Claim “Lawmakers can lower the $1 million threshold by a simple majority without a public vote, and they rejected amendments to require one” True

Washington I-645 (2026) · 6 min read

If I-645 passes, the tax relief for working families stays in place.

Claim “I-645 could mean higher taxes for thousands of small businesses, force families to pay sales tax for basic household items like diapers, and raise taxes for 460,000 Washington families” False

Washington I-645 (2026) · 6 min read

Washington voters rejected income-tax measures ten times between 1934 and 2010.

Claim “Over the last 90 years, Washingtonians have rejected an income tax ten times” Mostly true

Washington I-645 (2026) · 7 min read

Washington lawmakers tapped dedicated accounts for the general fund about 80 times since 2021

Claim “80 times in the last five years Olympia has moved money from dedicated accounts to the general fund” Mostly true

Washington I-645 (2026) · 8 min read

Officials expect the capital gains tax to survive I-645; the legal question is untested.

Claim “State officials expect I-645 to leave Washington's capital gains tax in place, though its wording raises an untested legal question” True

Washington I-645 (2026) · 9 min read

I-645 would forgo about $13 billion, but cuts no current school budget

Claim “I-645 would forgo about $13 billion in revenue over the tax's first four years, but it would not cut any current school, health-care or child-care budget” True

Technology · 5 min read

Free Windows 10 security updates now run through October 12, 2027.

Claim “Free Windows 10 security updates ended on October 13, 2026” False

Washington State taxes · 9 min read

Many Washington workers will pay more into WA Cares than its maximum benefit.

Claim “Many Washington workers will pay more into WA Cares than its maximum lifetime benefit is worth” True

Washington state budget · 9 min read

Washington paid $647 million to unemployment fraudsters in 2020; a third is still unrecovered.

Claim “Washington lost more than $600 million to unemployment fraud in 2020, and much of it was never recovered” Mostly true

Transportation · 10 min read

About a third of Link light rail riders don't pay a fare.

Claim “About a third of Sound Transit Link light rail riders don't pay their fare” True

Washington State taxes · 9 min read

Sound Transit's 1990s car-tab schedule overvalues newer cars.

Claim “Sound Transit's car-tab tax uses a 1990s depreciation schedule that overstates what cars are worth” Mostly true

Washington taxes · 10 min read

Seattle has used JumpStart payroll tax money to balance its budget every year.

Claim “Seattle's JumpStart payroll tax, sold mainly for affordable housing, has repeatedly been used to plug general-fund deficits” True

Animals · 6 min read

The cheetah is the fastest land animal, timed at up to 64 mph.

Claim “The cheetah is the fastest land animal” True

Education · 9 min read

Washington's school spending outpaced inflation as test results slipped.

Claim “Washington's school spending has grown while its education results have declined, from 20th to 31st nationally” Mostly true

Seattle office market · 8 min read

Seattle's office vacancy is at a record high and among America's worst.

Claim “Seattle has the worst office vacancy rate in the country” Mostly true

Sports · 6 min read

Washington's fastest girl miler ever would finish near last in boys' finals.

Claim “Washington's fastest high-school girl ever in the mile would finish at or near the back of a boys' state final” True

Kentucky economy · 5 min read

Kentucky has about 3.5 barrels of aging bourbon per resident.

Claim “Kentucky has more barrels of bourbon aging than it has people” True

Kentucky economy · 5 min read

Kentucky coal mining jobs have fallen more than 80% since 1990.

Claim “Kentucky has lost more than 80 percent of its coal mining jobs since 1990” True

Kentucky disasters · 6 min read

Kentucky's official toll for the July 2022 flood is 44 deaths.

Claim “The July 2022 eastern Kentucky flood killed 44 people” Mostly true

Washington taxes · 9 min read

Columbia Bank is moving its top executives to Arizona over Washington taxes.

Claim “Washington's new taxes are driving Columbia Bank's top executives out of the state” True

Washington I-638 (2026) · 10 min read

Initiative 638 requires a doctor's sex verification, not a genital exam.

Claim “Initiative 638 will require genital examinations for female athletes” False

Kentucky abandoned mine land reclamation · 4 min read

Kentucky generally met federal mine-cleanup goals, audit finds, but reporting issues remain

Claim “Kentucky generally fulfilled its IIJA abandoned-mine goals, but its grant spending and financial-performance reporting had issues” True

Washington State taxes · 7 min read

Washington enacted 141 clear tax and fee increases from 2017 to 2026.

Claim “The Washington Legislature has raised taxes or fees more than 100 times since 2017” Mostly true

U.S. politics · 6 min read

Trump's LA remark was ambiguous; he later vowed to protect the city.

Claim “Trump wants Iran to nuke Los Angeles” Misleading

Conflict and crime statistics · 7 min read

The Iran war has killed over ten times more people than Chicago's homicides.

Claim “More people have died in Chicago than in the Iran war since it started” False

Religion · 8 min read

The Catholic Church long supported the death penalty but now opposes it.

Claim “The Catholic Church has supported the death penalty” True

Immigration and labor · 11 min read

Microsoft's H-1B count mostly reflects renewals; the fraud case remains unproven.

Claim “Microsoft laid off 6,000 American workers and replaced each one with one and a half foreign H-1B workers” Misleading

Homelessness · 12 min read

Seattle's homelessness spending tripled while homelessness kept rising.

Claim “Seattle's increased spending on homelessness has reduced homelessness” False

Washington state budget · 15 min read

Washington's budget more than doubled in a decade, outpacing population and inflation

Claim “State spending has doubled in the past decade alone” True

Sports · 10 min read

After puberty, boys outrun, outjump and outswim girls by roughly 10-30%.

Claim “Boys and men have a large competitive advantage over girls and women in high-school and professional sports” True

Nutrition · 9 min read

Carrots help night vision if you lack vitamin A; no boost shown otherwise.

Claim “Eating carrots helps you see in the dark” Misleading

Health · 7 min read

Holiday-meal drowsiness likely reflects the whole feast, not turkey's tryptophan.

Claim “Turkey makes you sleepy because of tryptophan” Misleading

Social media and free speech · 12 min read

X is among the most permissive social networks

Claim “X allows a wider range of political views than other major social media sites” True

Health · 10 min read

Fluoride toothpaste prevents cavities; IQ studies concern total intake, not toothpaste.

Claim “Fluoride in toothpaste is a neurotoxin that lowers children's IQ” Misleading

Health · 7 min read

EPA found no unreasonable cancer risk from using laundry detergents like Tide.

Claim “Using Tide laundry detergent causes cancer” False

Public safety · 12 min read

Washington's pursuit limits likely added to the car-theft surge; how much is unknown.

Claim “Washington's 2021 police-pursuit restrictions caused the state's vehicle-theft surge” Mixed

Space science · 6 min read

The Moon is made of rock and metal.

Claim “The Moon is made of cheese” False

Transportation · 9 min read

Washington State Ferries is the largest U.S. vehicle-ferry system by traffic.

Claim “Puget Sound ferry service is the largest ferry system in the United States” Mostly true

Health · 8 min read

Large studies find no link between vaccines and autism.

Claim “Vaccines cause autism” False

Physics · 6 min read

Toilet design, not the hemisphere, sets which way a toilet flushes.

Claim “Household toilets reliably flush one way in the Northern Hemisphere and the opposite way in the Southern Hemisphere because of the Coriolis effect” False

Health · 5 min read

Swallowed gum passes through the digestive tract normally.

Claim “If swallowed, chewing gum remains in the stomach or digestive tract for seven years” False

Space · 9 min read

Apollo 11 landed on the Moon. Here's the evidence.

Claim “The Apollo 11 lunar landing shown on July 20, 1969, was staged on Earth, and Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin did not walk on the Moon” False

Health · 6 min read

mRNA vaccines work outside the cell nucleus and leave DNA unchanged.

Claim “COVID-19 mRNA vaccines enter a person’s cells and permanently change or integrate into their DNA” False

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