Click here for a timeline of the 11 voter rejections of an income tax in Washington state. OLYMPIA…Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, and House Republican Leader Drew Stokesbary, R-Auburn, released the following statement in response to the...
Senate Republican Leader John Braun and House Republican Leader Drew Stokesbary released a joint statement today following the certification of Initiative 2117 (Concerning carbon tax credit trading) by the Secretary of State on Tuesday. "Governor Inslee and Democrats...
OLYMPIA… Several of Washington’s Senate Republicans say the next time legislators are in session, they’ll try again to give workers an opportunity to opt out of the mandatory long-term care tax that began cutting into paychecks July 1. “Workers around our state are...
At the risk of dating myself, I was a young mother right around the last time the inflation rate in our state was like it is now… very high and skyrocketing! I know what it’s like to do the dollar-stretching and prioritizing that has suddenly become a necessity for...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
