Olympia Update – More Taxes, More Government Control

Apr 4, 2019 | Olympia News and Views, Taxation

April 4, 2019

As the legislative session in Olympia moves on, there are many bills that will affect us as citizens here in Washington State.

As we are seeing with the many objectionable bills working their way through the legislature, elections do matter. With a Republican majority, most of these bills would not have made it out of their respective committees. 

HB 1110, “Reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with transportation fuels,” is one such bill. The Legislature is once again ignoring the will of the voters (yes, we have voted against carbon taxes several times!) and have a proposal that will increase our gas taxes and create higher energy costs.  Increasing the gas tax will impact the prices of most of our goods and services. This is a bill we have all seen before. It is one that claims to be about protecting the environment, yet in reality it increases taxes on the average consumer and funnels more tax dollars into Olympia. This bill has passed in the House and is in committee in the Senate.

SB 5078 (Requiring disclosure of federal income tax returns of presidential and vice presidential candidates prior to appearing on the ballot): A bill designed to keep President Donald J. Trump off the ballot in 2020. A similar bill was vetoed by California’s Democratic Governor, yet the Washington State Democrats think they need to be even more progressive than California.
 
SB 5395 (Concerning comprehensive sexual health education): A bill making it mandatory for kids in grades K-12 to go through “comprehensive” sexual education. Even though Washington citizens went to Olympia to inform the House members on the problematic nature of this bill, it is still active in committee.
 
HB 2156 (Investing in quality prekindergarten, K-12, and postsecondary opportunities throughout Washington with excise taxes on sales and extraordinary profits of high valued assets): This is the Democrats’ much anticipated Income Tax Bill. Even though this kind of tax is illegal in Washington State, the Democrats are going forward with it anyway. 

Why should Washingtonians pay the highest gas taxes in the country? We are already using technology better than most states, which allows us to use less energy, conserve water, and make the best use of resources in our evergreen state.

Another bill worth complaining about is SB 5313, the two-year state operating budget.  It raises questions, such as, “When will our Legislators get the point that this is our tax money they are spending?” and “What don’t they understand about living within a budget?”

The Democrats have brought forth a $53 billion budget proposal. Despite a more than $2 billion surplus, this budget is requiring tax increases of more than $4 billion. Republican legislators have argued that the state has more than adequate funds to cover our state’s priorities without raising taxes. The state revenue forecast through 2021 is predicting an additional $861 million in tax revenue. 

For this any many other bills, please make frequent use of the legislative hot line, 1-800-562-6000, to ask your legislators to Vote No.

Sign up for washingtonvotes.org to stay on top of the current status of bills in Olympia.