Olympia Weekly Report 20200330

Public records reveal Democrats’ plan to impose state income tax

Recent results from legislative public records revealed Democrats plan to use their proposal for a state capital gains income tax to set up a lawsuit in hopes of establishing a state income tax without a constitutional amendment. One Democrat lawmaker wrote in an email, “This will give the Supreme Court the opportunity to revisit its bad decisions from 1934 and 1951 that income is property and will make it possible, if we succeed, to enact a progressive income tax with a simple majority vote.” The Washington Policy Center’s Jason Mercier presents more evidence in his latest article.

Republicans call on Inslee to overturn statewide plastic bag ban amid COVID-19

Republican State Sen. Doug Ericksen (R-Ferndale) is calling for Jay Inslee to overturn a ban on plastic bags recently passed by Democrats during the 2020 legislative session. Democrats’ recent power overreach carries problematic sanitation concerns during the COVID-19 crisis. Mainly, the increased likelihood of spreading the virus via reusable bags compared with plastic bags. Ericksen told KTTH’s Jason Rantz, “Now what we’re finding out plastic bags are one of the things that you want to use to help slow or stop the spread of the coronavirus.”

Inslee’s “non-essential” business ambiguity adds more chaos for construction industry

Jay Inslee’s shelter in place order considers construction as a non-essential business – the high-level of ambiguity associated with his decision has left the industry in chaos. His decision has far-reaching implications for local homebuilders across the states. Joel White, executive officer for Spokane Home Builders Association, told the Spokesman-Review, “The real impact is really on homeowners and the community and the tax base… There are homeowners who were planning on moving in their homes for two weeks and have already sold their existing homes. Now they are left in limbo.”

Resources available to hurting businesses and workers

Businesses and workers across Washington State feel the impact of COVID-19. Those experiencing ongoing economic fallout should understand all emergency relief resources available, including government and relief agency services. Washington State’s COVID-19 resource page for businesses and workers can be found here. Additionally, a recent article in the Seattle Times provides a full list of resources to help hurting businesses and workers.

COVID19 gun store closures

Gov. Inslee’s March 23^rd executive order directs all Washingtonians to stay home, except for “Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers.” This category does not include workers of firearm and ammunition businesses, meaning gun stores across the state could be shut down.

On March 27^th, state Senator Lynda Wilson delivered letters to Governor Jay Inslee explaining why it is essential that citizens are able to access their Second Amendment rights during the COVID-19 crisis. One letter was signed by 46 state lawmakers and the other was signed by 15 law enforcement officials from across the state. Click here to view the letters and see if your legislators, sheriff, or police chief signed.

“Some things don’t stop because of COVID-19, and unfortunately, one of those is crime. Governor Inslee can’t assume criminals will honor his stay-at-home order – he’s aware that a state trooper gave his life on Tuesday while trying to apprehend a suspected criminal who obviously wasn’t staying home,” said Senator Wilson.

 Because Initiative 594 criminalized private sales of firearms and severely restricted transfers, the closing of gun stores will make it nearly impossible for citizens to give or sell a firearm to friends, extended family, or others seeking to exercise their right to self-defense.

More taxes, more spending, no answers

State government (taxing and) spending of your money won't abate in the next couple of years.  That's the plan in Olympia's current budget.

Graphical representation of the history of Washington State's tax hunger:

See http://fiscal.wa.gov/

We are getting soaked.  Your individual share of the tax burden will be $7,814.63. That number is the result of the total taxes in the budget ($56,953,000,000) divided by the number of all Washington residents (~7,288,000 people).  

We are on the edge of a a massive setback to our economy due to the Corona virus.  This budget, based on  massive tax increase, is the Democrats' answer.  But taxing and spending never have solved problems.  This budget is the Democrats' way of avoiding any real work.

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For additional historical perspective, note that the total budget of the entire United States government was under $100,000,000,000 per annum in 1961.

Weekly Olympia Report

The 2020 legislative session concludes

An unpredictably tumultuous legislative session concluded last week. A global pandemic changed to course of the 2020 session, yet the highlights are worth reviewing. Democrat leadership refused to even hear testimony on proposals that would ban Title Only bills. Democrat lawmakers also signaled their intent to push for a future state income tax, filing a brief seeking to overturn established caselaw on the first day of session.

Bipartisan transportation budget includes no new taxes

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle approved a transportation budget last week, avoiding cuts to road projects and transit services. Projects placed on hold by Jay Inslee following the passage of I-976 – the $30 car tab measure – will resume. The $10.4 billion transportation budget pulls funds from existing budgets. Despite budget surpluses, Democrats will likely attempt to hike taxes to fund transportation projects during the next legislative session.

Democrats pass supplemental state budget, includes record-high spending

Democrat’s final supplemental budget plan adds about one billion dollars in spending to the already record-high $52.5 billion state budget [a 20% increase from the last biennium.] Democrats’ plan places nearly $900 million of the $1.5 billion surplus into a rainy-day fund. Originally, Democrats sought to spend nearly all the surplus money. The proposal passed along [caucus] lines. All Republicans and Sen. Sheldon voted against the plan.

News Tribune Editorial Board calls on Inslee to veto union-backed state employee info bill

The Tacoma News Tribune Editorial Board is calling on Governor Inslee to veto HB 1888 when it arrives on his desk. The bill, in the name of privacy, makes it harder for groups like The Freedom Foundation to request state employee information with birth dates so they can contact them about opting out of union membership and dues. Democrats argue that this is simply protecting employees from harassment but the TNT rightly calls them out for blatantly doing the bidding of their union benefactors.

Some gun control legislation fails...

... which means the People of Washington State had successes in this legislative session.  We seek to deter crime; we need to re-enforce the right of armed self-defense.

House Bill 2947 would have banned the manufacture, possession, sale, transfer, etc. of magazines that hold more than fifteen rounds of ammunition. It would have appropriated funds for the State Patrol to conduct a “buy-back.” Such turn-in events serve as nothing more than propaganda for gun control advocates while failing to promote public safety in any measurable way.

House Bill 2240 and Senate Bill 6027 would have banned the manufacture, possession, sale, transfer, etc. of magazines that hold more than fifteen rounds of ammunition. So called “high capacity” magazines are in fact standard equipment for commonly-owned firearms that many Americans legally and effectively use for an entire range of legitimate purposes, such as self-defense or competition. Those who own non-compliant magazines prior to the ban would have only been allowed to possess them on their own property and in other limited instances such as at licensed shooting ranges or while hunting. Restricted magazines would have had to be transported unloaded and locked separately from firearms and stored at home locked, making them unavailable for self-defense.

House Bill 2241 would have banned certain semi-automatic rifles and magazines that hold more than ten rounds of ammunition. HB 2241, like its predecessors, would have done nothing to impact crime or keep Washingtonians safer.

House Bill 1315 and Senate Bill 5174 would have required onerous government red tape and further training to obtain a Concealed Pistol License.

House Bill 2519 would have banned online sales of ammunition, and potentially required background checks for all ammunition purchases. This bill came on the heels of California’s failed ammunition background check system and was supported by the Attorney General.

New legislation to restrict firearms rights.

The following bills have passed the legislature this session and are headed to Jay Inslee's desk for his signature.

Restrictions on carry
Senate Bill 5434 prohibits the possession of firearms in childcare centers, including by Concealed Pistol License holders carrying for self-defense. In addition to leaving law-abiding citizens defenseless against criminals who ignore arbitrary boundaries, the bill requires child care centers to publicly indicate they are “gun-free zones” by posting signs outside the facilities.

Tax-payer funded gun restriction lobby
Senate Bill 6288 creates an Office of Firearm Violence Prevention within the Executive Branch of the state government. Governor Jay Inslee and his administration have already made it clear where they stand on Second Amendment issues—they routinely sponsor and support gun ban legislation and initiatives designed to disarm law-abiding citizens. This office would be nothing more than a tax-payer funded lobby group whose sole purpose is to erode self-defense rights in Washington.

Restriction on civil rights (this one is far-reaching)
House Bill 2622 modifies Washington’s existing firearm surrender provisions for individuals subject to a court order. This bill compels a respondent to appear and provide proof on how and to what extent they complied with the surrender order. This is a serious encroachment on the right against compelled self-incrimination in any criminal, civil, or other government proceedings. Failure to appear results in the individual being in contempt of court, thereby putting the individual in a no-win situation.

And finally legislators evade legislative law.
Meanwhile, House Bill 2947 remains in the House Finance Committee.  HB 2947 is nearly the same text as House Bill 2240.  HB 2240 failed to pass by deadline in regular session.  In order to bypass legislative rules, anti-gun legislators added a “buy-back” provision in order to make HB 2947 an appropriations bill that is not subject to the same deadlines.

Since it is tied to the budget, it is not subject to the same deadlines and is still considered active until the legislative session adjourns this Thursday, March 12th. House Bill 2947 bans the manufacture, possession, sale, transfer, etc. of magazines that hold more than fifteen rounds of ammunition. It appropriates funds for the State Patrol to conduct a “buy-back.” Such turn-in events serve as nothing more than propaganda for gun control advocates while failing to promote public safety in any measurable way.

Weekly Olympia report

Senate Democrats propose additional $1.1 billion to operating budget, include tax hikes

Senate Democrats passed their supplemental spending plan this week. Democrats’ plan would add approximately $1.1 billion to our state’s two-year operating budget, already at record high spending. Democrats already had started the year with a billion dollars in tax increases despite the state recently announcing an additional $1.5 billion in extraordinary revenue. Disappointingly, as Republican Senator Steve O’Ban points out, the funds Democrats allocated to combating homelessness only “scratches the surface” of addressing the crisis.

Tri-City Herald Editorial Board calls for legislators to defeat Inslee’s low carbon fuel standard

Washington’s “struggling families, farmers and business owners” would bear the burden of Jay Inslee’s low-carbon fuel standard bill, writes the Tri-City Herald Editorial Board in a new op-ed calling for legislators to defeat the plan. Prices for gas would shoot up, resulting in higher prices for goods dependent on transportation (food, clothes, services, etc). The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PSCAA) estimates the low-carbon fuel standard would increase the cost of gas by up to 57 cents per gallon and diesel by 63 cents per gallon in 10 years. Yet, despite the heavy burden, Inslee’s legislation would not make a dent in resolving climate change.

Federal agencies find destroying Lower Snake River dams results in more harm than good

Federal agencies determined the destroying the Lower Snake River dams would have higher environmental and economic costs than benefits. The federal report rejects the notion of removing the dams to save threatened salmon, and the orcas who depend on them for survival. Senate Republican Leader Mark Schoesler has long called for science-driven solutions to solving problems related to salmon and orcas in Puget Sound. Dam-destruction – at a cost of a billion dollars – would drive up economic costs in the region, degrade air quality, and eliminate a source of clean energy. Rather, Schoesler calls for “habitat restoration, hatchery expansion and other programs that make sense for the salmon.”

Democrats block local property tax relief measures

Last year, the Washington Democrats voted to raise property taxes, increasing the local school-levy lid to $2.50 per $1,000 assessed value starting in 2020 (up from $1.50 per $1,000). Democrats chose to raise local property taxes – impacting homeowners and renters alike – despite $4 billion in new revenue in 2019. This legislative session, Republican Senator Steve O’Ban proposed legislation that would reduce the property tax burden. His legislation would have exempted the first $100,000 of a homeowner’s value from state property taxes and ”cap state spending growth at the rate of population plus inflation, with excess revenues returned to taxpayers in the form of a property-tax cut.” Unfortunately, Democrats blocked the tax relief measures despite – once again – experiencing higher than expected revenue.