🍁 Peep those leaves

It's Monday! We're not rising-and-shining yet, but theoretically there's still time.

Today's weather: 🌥️ Morning clouds. High near 71.

✈️ Programming note: This week, we're gathering with our Axios Local colleagues for a retreat in Minneapolis. We'll have shorter newsletters while we're on the road.

🎂 Happy birthday to our Axios Seattle member Chris Pleasants!

Today's newsletter is 751 words, a 3-minute read.

Washington voters will soon decide whether to repeal the state's tax on capital gains, which is paid by some of the state's wealthiest residents.

Why it matters: If voters opt to nix the tax by approving Initiative 2109, the state will lose more than $2 billion in revenue for child care programs and education over five years, according to a state fiscal analysis.

State of play: Fewer than 4,000 Washington taxpayers paid the capital gains tax last year, per the state Department of Revenue.

• About 3.8 million individual income tax returns were filed in Washington in 2021, the most recent year of IRS data available.

How it works: The tax applies to profits from selling capital assets, such as stocks and bonds, if those profits exceed $250,000 per person (or per married couple) in a year.

• Sales of retirement accounts, real estate and certain small businesses are exempt, and the tax applies only to the portion of capital gains that exceed the $250,000 threshold.
• The first $500 million raised by the capital gains tax each year is earmarked for early learning and education programs, with anything above that going toward K-12 school construction.

What they're saying: Supporters of repealing the tax say it has made Washington less competitive and less attractive to entrepreneurs, while opening the door to broader taxation in the future.

• "The capital gains tax isn't about necessity — it's about expanding government control over your money," Hallie Balch, spokesperson for the campaign to repeal the tax, said in a video voter guide statement.

The other side: "By cutting taxes on the extremely wealthy, I-2109 will unfairly shift the bill to middle class families," Stephan Blanford, executive director of the Children's Alliance, said in a video voter guide statement urging voters to reject the initiative.

Catch up quick: Washington state lawmakers passed the capital gains tax in 2021 to try to address what many Democrats, who control both chambers of the state Legislature, called an imbalance in the state's tax code.

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Peak fall foliage in Western Washington will be here before you know it.

Why it matters: Your window to view the bright hues may be trickier to predict, as climate change impacts when leaves change — and how colorful they get.

Driving the news: Using historical weather reports, tree species information and user data, travel brand SmokyMountains.com put together foliage prediction maps of the U.S.

• In the Seattle area, leaves start changing colors around the last week of September, reach near peak in the first two weeks of October, and are past peak by the end of the month.

Yes, but: Rain and wind can end the season early by knocking leaves off the trees.

Lively foliage displays can be found at many Seattle parks, including Discovery Park, the Washington Park Arboretum and Kubota Garden.

Between the lines: The green color in leaves comes from chlorophyll, the pigment that helps plants turn sunlight into energy via photosynthesis.

• As nights get longer and there's less sunlight in the fall, leaves stop making chlorophyll.
• The green color fades and the yellows, oranges, reds or purples become visible.

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Instagram is launching Teen Accounts in September, with built-in protections limiting who can contact teens and the content they can see. Plus, only parents can approve safety setting changes for teens under 16.

The impact: More protections for teens, and peace of mind for parents.

Learn more.

Climate Pledge Arena has agreed to pay nearly $500,000 in penalties after state officials say the venue charged a hidden 3% fee on more than 180,000 food and drink purchases last year. (KING 5)

Former Washington Gov. Dan Evans, who also served as a U.S. senator, died late last week. He was 98. (AP)

💵 Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell is proposing to increase what the city spends on opioid treatment, including a plan to spend more than $5 million in federal grant money on a new overdose recovery center in Pioneer Square. (KUOW)

🚨 Seattle and King County have reached an agreement to lift booking restrictions at the county jail, which will allow the city to send more misdemeanor offenders there. (Seattle Times)

Melissa snapped this photo of the sun setting over the Mississippi River shortly after landing in Minneapolis on Saturday.

• We're exploring the Twin Cities for a couple days in between work meetings, so let us know if there's anything we can't miss!

Starting in September, Instagram Teen Accounts have automatic protections for who can contact teens and the content they can see. Plus, only parents can approve safety setting changes for teens under 16.

What this means: Built-in protections for teens, and peace of mind for parents.

Learn more.

😎 Melissa was happy to spend a couple of days in Minneapolis ahead of this week's Axios work retreat, catching up with old friends.

📺 Clarridge is going to see as many Mary Tyler Moore-related sites as possible in Minneapolis, thanks to reader C. Noland, who sent this guide.

This newsletter was edited by Rachel La Corte.