Update on capital gains income tax and gun control bills.
Feb. 17, 2021 – Monday’s deadline for passing bills out of policy committees in their originating chamber has now left 463 non-fiscal measures eligible for further consideration during this year’s legislative session. House committees passed 216 bills, while Senate committees passed 247 bills.
In a separate process, House and Senate fiscal and transportation committees have until this coming Monday, February 22nd, to pass bills in their originating house—currently some 210 measures. In general, legislation considered necessary to implement the state budget is not subject to any cut-off deadlines.
All of the bills to reform emergency powers and re-open the economy died in Monday’s committee cut-off. The bills would have put checks and balances on the governor’s go-it-alone emergency proclamations that he has issued since March of last year.
Although a comprehensive bill to limit the governor’s emergency powers, HB 1029, received a public hearing on February 8th, none of the measures made it out of committee for a possible debate and floor vote in either chamber and are likely dead for the year.
Still alive after the cutoff are proposed gun-control bills to limit 2nd Amendment rights by banning high capacity magazines (SB 5078) and to prohibit open-carry of firearms near public demonstrations at the state Capitol (SB 5038). Both of these bills are currently in the Senate Rules Committee, ready to be placed on the calendar for floor action by the full Senate. Another bill, HB 1238, to make open-carry or display of a weapon in an intimidating manner a crime, may also be added to a future House floor action calendar.
Notably, a ban on so-called “assault weapons” (HB 1229 and SB 5217) did not survive the cut-off on Monday. These companion measures would have banned the manufacture, sale, and possession of some 90 firearms, listed by specific make and model in the bill. The general term “assault weapon” has no precise or legal definition.
Lawmakers are now shifting their attention to various tax and spending bills before the legislature. On Tuesday, the Senate Ways and Means Committee passed SB 5096, a capital gains income tax that would impose a 7% tax on the sale of capital assets, like investments or retirement accounts. The bill passed along partisan lines as a substitute bill which changed some of the provisions of the original bill. The changes would:
• Lower the tax rate from 9% to 7 %;
• Increase the threshold for exclusion to $250,000;
• Exempt all sales or exchanges of real estate;
• Deposit the first $350 million in revenues collected each year into the Education Legacy Trust Account and deposit the remainder into a new Taxpayer Relief Account.
Public testimony on this bill, and the House version of a capital gains income tax proposal, HB 1496, revealed that any capital gains tax would be an unequal state income tax, which is prohibited by Washington’s state constitution.
Also this week, House Republicans unveiled their proposal for a 2021-23 state operating budget framework during a news conference on Tuesday. The top Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Drew Stokesbary (R-Auburn), said it is not necessary for state lawmakers to raise taxes or to cut any vital services as they craft a two-year operating budget this legislative session. He said, “This isn’t a budget that will grow government or serve special interests, it’s a proposal that will help people – working families, growing students, vulnerable people, small businesses, and all Washingtonians.”
WashingtonVotes News will cover House and Senate budget proposals, as specific bills move through the legislative process.
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