Olympia this week

Lawsuits to challenge constitutionality of new state income tax on capital gains (WA Policy)

Democrat lawmakers plan to use their recently passed income tax on capital gains to set-up a lawsuit to “try to impose a broad-based graduated income tax,” according to public records.  The result is the Democrat lawmakers' actions is the state of Washington will now face two lawsuits.

The Freedom Foundation filed a lawsuit in Douglas County questioning the constitutionality of the law. And the Opportunity for All Coalition (OFAC) also announced plans to file a lawsuit.  OFAC stated, “The state’s constitution clearly prohibits this type of tax, something that its supporters know.”

Unfortunately, as the Washington Police Center’s Jason Mercier points out, “It could be years, however, before we know if the state Supreme Court decides to uphold its numerous rulings saying that you own your income or if they’ll instead reverse course and take the bait from income tax supporters.”

~~~~~~~~

Democrats pass record-breaking spending plan -- they left no time for public input  (Washington State Wire)

House and Senate Democrats released their two-year record-breaking tax-and-spend budget just one day before the voting deadline. Democrats’ unprecedented tax-and-spend plan spends $59.2 billion – draining the state’s rainy-day fund – and uses $10 billion in federal stimulus funds.  The Democrats love to spend your money.

Democrats’ late release of the budget means lawmakers (and the public) had very little time to review the record spending and new taxes. The Senate passed the budget on a near party line vote, with only Sen. Mark Mullet (D – Issaquah) and Sen. Tim Sheldon (D – Potlatch) joining Republicans in voting no.

~~~~~~~~

Democrats tie extreme “green” schemes to hike in gas tax (Capital Press)

Democrats’ cap-and-trade scheme and High Cost Fuel Standard (HCFS) will be implemented if “Washington lawmakers reconvene and also raise the gas tax by at least 5 cents a gallon.” Given these ineffective and extreme “green” schemes would exponentially increase fuel costs by 95 cents/gallon in 2028, some Democrats were hesitant to vote for the policies until the Legislature agrees on “a new 16-year transportation plan that includes a gas tax increase.” +

The 2021 legislative session ended without a transportation deal – but Democrats have indicated they will renew negotiations soon. If a gas tax is passed, the cap-and-trade scheme and Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) will take effect in 2023. 

Washington Farm Bureau director of government relations Tom Davis stated of the policies, “The cumulative impact on the farming community is what we’re most concerned about… It’s going to have a huge impact on agriculture. We use fuel, and we’re not apologetic about.”

~~~~~~~~
        
The 2021 legislative session concludes, what passed and what didn’t (The Lens)

Washington’s 2021 legislative session ended on Sunday – 4/25. The session went on for 105 days and – during that time – Democrats passed a lot of damaging new legislation. 

Notably, bills that did not pass this legislative session reveal what Democrats may pursue in the future. For example, Washingtonians were spared Rep. Tina Orwall’s (D-33) expansion of the state death tax. The list also includes Republican-sponsored bills that Democrats killed. This includes Rep. Brandon Vick’s (R-18) B&O tax relief that would have reduced the heavy tax burden carried by the hospitality industry, encouraging recovery after COVID-19 shutdowns.