Washington Legislature Anti-Gun legislation to Inslee

This year, anti-gun Washington Legislators continued their crusade of undermining the Second Amendment and defying the precedent established in the Bruen decision. While this session saw the passage of numerous anti-gun measures, it was not without its victories as well.  Thanks to the calls and emails from NRA Members and Second Amendment supporters, a number of equally bad measures were thankfully defeated. 

Please contact Governor Jay Inslee and respectfully ask him to veto the below anti-gun measures.

Bills Passed and Awaiting Governor Jay Inslee’s Consideration:

House Bill 1903 further victimizes otherwise law-abiding gun owners and places the liability on crime victims for theft of their own property by penalizing failing to report missing or stolen firearms within 24 hours.

House Bill 2021 expands the authorized and/or required destruction of firearms acquired from gun buyback programs held by state and local government entities.

House Bill 2118, the "FFL-Killer" bill, places onerous requirements on Washington-based FFLs and will put many out of business because of the financial burden to comply. Any FFL that does more than $1,000 of sales per year must run annual background checks on their employees, carry $1 million liability insurance, install steel doors or bars at the business, and meet onerous requirements for storage and security systems with 24-hour audio and video surveillance.

Senate Bill 5444 expands “sensitive places” where law-abiding citizens may no longer open carry in these publicly accessible areas - public transportation areas, libraries, zoos and aquariums. Nothing in the bill requires these “sensitive places” have any measures to protect citizens and prevent armed criminals from ignoring this arbitrary boundary and entering, such as metal detectors, security guards, or a police presence. Concealed Pistol License holders may still lawfully conceal carry their firearms in these locations.

Senate Bill 5985 codifies the unconstitutional provisions of Washington’s recent ban on commonly owned firearms into the section of state code on background checks. 

Bills Defeated During Session:

House Bill 1902 would have required individuals obtain a permit with live-fire training to be able to exercise the right to purchase firearms.

House Bill 2054 would have rationed Second Amendment rights by limiting firearm dealers from transferring or selling more than one firearm per 30-day period to an individual.

House Bill 2238 would have created an additional 11% excise tax on the sale or transfer of ammunition.

Senate Bill 5963 would have required an individual who owns a firearm to obtain residential insurance as a homeowner or a renter.

Legislature enacts another tax on workers

They call SB 6069 an improvement for retirement security.  It has no opt-out provision, so you must pay a percentage of your paycheck into the state's coffers.  Its a tax.  And it has passed both houses of the legislature and awaits the governor's signature.

Here is lie they told themselves to pass this thing.

"SB 6069 = Improving private Washington workforce retirement security standards by establishing Washington saves, an automatic enrollment individual retirement savings account program, and updating the Washington retirement marketplace statute."

In general, Democrats voted for this bill, and Republicans opposed it.  To look up your own representative or senator's vote, the vote record is posted at https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/WAGOV/bulletins/38f5ffe 

Initiative sucesses and the comng balllot battle on others

The legislature saw fit to repeal some of their own laws.  The People submitted initiative to the legislature.  The Democrats looked at the polls and realized that to keep their jobs, they better go along with the People's will.  (Who would mind if the Democrats were turned out of state government anyway?)

So the legislature enacted the following initiatives.

Initiative 2111 prohibits the state and local jurisdictions from imposing taxes on any individual person on any form of personal income.  The initiative specifies that "income" has the same meaning as "gross income" as under the federal tax code.

Initiative 2113 expanded authorization for vehicular pursuits by allowing an officer to conduct a vehicular pursuit where there is reasonable suspicion a person has violated the law.

Initiative 2081 declared 15 rights that parents and guardians of public school children have, including rights to receive or be notified of academic, medical, safety, and law enforcement matters; rights to examine and inspect certain materials and records; and rights to opt their children out of certain activities.

The initiatives will become law, taking effect about three months after the session ends, unless a referendum is filed. The last day of the session is Thursday.

Source - Seattle Times

The legislature has declined to act on certain Initiatives of the People.  These are

I-2109 The Initiative to repeal capital gains tax   The capital gains tax was passed by the Washington State Legislature in 2021.  It took effect on January 1, 2022.  Revenue from the tax was set to be deposited in the education legacy trust account and the common school construction account.  This initiative would repeal the 7% capital gains excise tax imposed on sales and exchanges of long-term capital assets by individuals with capital gains over $250,000.

Capital gains taxes suppress the willingness of investors to make large investments.  The rental housing industry is one example. 

I-2117 - Which will repeal carbon cap-and-invest program  & prohibit carbon tax credit trading.  Under this all state agencies are prohibited from implementing any type of carbon tax credit trading, also known as "cap and trade" or "cap and tax" scheme.  It includes the climate commitment act previously codified as chapter 70A.65 RCW.  This prohibition applies whether the resulting increased costs are imposed on fuel recipients or fuel suppliers. 

This has implications to this year’s supplemental spending.

I-2124, the initiative to opt-out of long-term Services Insurance Program. Instead, the law would change to requires employees and self-employed individuals to opt-in to coverage under the state's long-term services and supports trust health care program.  It would allows anyone to opt out of coverage at any time.  The Employee Security Department (ESD) would be responsible for developing rules to implement the opt-out process.  

The existing Long-Term services and supports trust program was created in 2019.  The Long-Term Services and Supports Trust Act (LTSS) created the first state-operated long-term care insurance program, known as the WA Cares Fund and is funded through a mandatory payroll tax on employees' wages.

Source - Washington Policy Center