I’ve never seen state government in such good financial shape when the Legislature is needing to adopt a new two-year budget. The Senate and House shouldn’t have any problem coming up with a no-new-taxes budget that is good for mental-health services, and special-education services, which seem to be at the top of the list of […]
Read MoreInslee misses deadline for releasing real budget – and why that budget is the real story
The orcas won’t want to hear this, but the $54 billion budget Governor Inslee brought out last week is not the proposal he was required to submit to the Legislature. Under a state law dating to at least 1959, the governor is to provide a budget document based on “the estimated revenues and caseloads as […]
Read MoreWhen it comes to taxes and spending, is Inslee insatiable?
Governor Inslee had included tax increases in all six budgets he’d submitted to the Legislature during his time in office. I figured he was a lock to make it 7-for-7, in the proposal he’d be putting on the table for 2019. Even so, I was amazed by what the governor unveiled yesterday. He’d spend $54 […]
Read MoreHead tax steals spotlight, but Seattle income-tax crusade alive and well
A new tax plan from the Seattle City Council is getting all the attention these days – a “head tax” that might best be described as a tax on jobs created by Seattle’s largest employers. But the city’s crusade for an income tax is alive and well and is working its way through the courts. […]
Read MoreIncome tax is central feature of House budget proposal
Once again, Democrats in the state Legislature attempted to pass an income tax during the 2018 legislative session. Just as in 2015 and 2017, majority Democrats in the House built their budget proposal on the assumption that the Legislature would pass a new income tax on capital gains. This time there were a few new […]
Read MoreInslee breaks with tradition, fails to propose income tax
The governor’s budget proposal for 2018 breaks with tradition — for the first time since taking office, Inslee has failed to propose an income tax. For those who follow the utterances of political leaders, the situation may be confusing. Inslee has said he opposes an income tax. Yet he has repeatedly proposed an income tax on […]
Read MoreSeattle judge rules municipal income tax is illegal
In November 2017, a King County Superior Court judge ruled Seattle’s effort to impose an income tax violates state law. The decision was a major blow for those who hope the courts will use the case to overturn the Supreme Court’s 1933 ruling that a graduated-rate income tax is unconstitutional. First Judge John Ruhl decided that Seattle’s […]
Read MoreMcCleary and the income tax
Published opinion pieces from members of the Majority Coalition Caucus draw the connections between McCleary and the long-running effort to impose an income tax. Senate Majority Leader Mark Schoesler, in The (Spokane) Spokesman-Review, Jan. 8, 2017: Income tax is the real issue, not schools “This is the cleverest campaign for an income tax ever […]
Read MoreA capital gains tax: First step toward a general income tax
Whether a capital gains income tax is constitutional is one issue; whether it would end with that is another. Capital gains income tax revenue is highly volatile, as are other taxes aimed at the wealthy. When the economy goes into a downturn, lawmakers will be left to scramble for new sources of money, as has […]
Read MoreSetting up a test case for an income tax
Advocates of an income tax last year managed to collect signatures to place one proposal on the ballot in the city of Olympia. When voters rejected the idea, they took their campaign to the city of Seattle — where the council voted May 1 to direct staff to come up with a detailed proposal. Though […]
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