Free today?

Today, you are free! At least it's "Tax Freedom Day," which arrives in Washington state later than in 41 other states.

If all of our state's economic output, from January 1 until today, was directed to paying local, state, and federal taxes, it would take until today-April 25-to pay that bill. To put it another way, nearly a third of what we produce goes to government. And that's just in the form of taxes, not counting fees and debt.

Tax Freedom Day arrived in Oregon five days ago; in Idaho it was April 11. Washington can do better, if we wrench back control of government from public-sector unions. Those private special interests fight tooth and nail to grow government, imposing an ever-greater burden on everybody else.

Want proof? Tax Freedom Day for states that don't allow union monopolies would be on April 14, meaning the average tax burden in those states is significantly less than here. We can do better. As you help us expose monopoly unions and how they rig our political system, you are part of the solution.

Cary Condotta's Olympia report

The Legislature adjourned the 60-day, 2014 legislative session on time, Thursday, March 13. This means for the first time since 2009 there will be no special session. You will recall, last year we had three special sessions and lawmakers were in Olympia until the end of June. Below is a brief overview of successes and disappointments of the legislative session.

Supplemental operating budget

The supplemental state operating budget passed by the Legislature this year had some very positive pieces to it. However, I opposed the budget this session because it left out some tax incentives important to our region. If you recall, in November, legislators were rushed back to Olympia and in a whirlwind special session we were asked to vote on tax incentive legislation to keep Boeing jobs in the Puget Sound region. Some legislators from Eastern Washington reminded all legislators during the debate to remember this during the upcoming session so we can do more to help the rest of our state improve job creation and strengthen the economy. 

Unfortunately, there were tax incentive bills for a variety of issues, including extending the tax incentive legislation to construct data centers, that would have helped accomplish this, but the proposals were not included in the final budget. The governor and House Democrats continually talk about “one Washington” but that doesn’t seem to extend outside the I-5 corridor. The latest unemployment numbers recently came out. King County has the lowest rate at 5.2 percent while the counties in the 12th District are:

• Chelan: 8.8 percent
• Douglas: 9.0 percent
• Okanogan: 10.9 percent
• Grant: 11.5 percent

We had a great opportunity to improve the business climate for all of Washington, not just the one Washington on the Westside of the mountains.

Prime-sponsored legislation
I had a number of bills receive public hearings and pass thru committees that brought attention to a variety of issues. We made significant progress on major issues for our district. These include defining independent contractors, property taxes and other bills related to local wineries and small business. We completed work on two of these important bills this session.

My bill to give county treasurers more flexibility in accepting property tax payments has been signed by the governor. I introduced House Bill 2309 because of the number of people I was hearing from about the lack of flexibility of trying to pay their property taxes during difficult times. A fellow legislator out of Spokane informed me his county treasurer, Rob Chase, had similar concerns. We worked on drafting the legislation and I was able to get it through the legislative process. This legislation may benefit people who lose their jobs, have health crises, live on retirement income or work seasonal jobs.

House Bill 2146 passed the Legislature unanimously and awaits the governor’s signature. It modifies the appeal bond amount for appeals of penalties to the Department of Labor and Industries (L&I). Unless you deal with this agency on a regular basis this may not mean a great deal to you, but it is a great example of the dysfunction we periodically encounter in our agencies. I became aware that to appeal a $150 penalty with the department you had to pay a $200 appeal bond. With small penalty levels and a high appeal cost, people obviously did not appeal. This will give people more reasonable access to appeal without encouraging frivolous appeals. This will change the appeal amount to 10 percent of the penalty amount, or $200, whichever is less, subject to a $100 minimum.

Session successes
House Bill 2789 is known as the “drone bill.” Given the National Security Agency (NSA) recording phone calls and e-mails, this bill quickly became very important this session. It places privacy protections around the use of unmanned surveillance aircraft by state agencies. It protects our privacy and constitutional rights as citizens. We are one of the first in the nation to pass such legislation. It still allows law enforcement to use surveillance aircraft in certain situations, such as search and rescue missions and emergencies. However, it will not allow agencies to observe your house or farm from the air without a warrant.

House Bill 2192 will promote economic development by improving the predictability and efficiency of state agency permit decisions. This legislation is a good transparency measure making information about permitting assistance and timelines more readily available to the public.

House Bills 2261 and 2262 require the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and the Department of Ecology (DOE) to “show their work” by categorizing on their websites the sources of scientific information relied upon in support of significant agency actions. This makes state agencies accountable for their actions and making their decision-making process more transparent.

House Bill 2207 provides that certain school districts which receive federal forest revenue will no longer have their state funding allocation reduced by the amount of federal forest revenue received.

Session disappointments
As I mentioned earlier, after the Legislature provided Boeing the tax incentives they wanted, nothing was done this session for the rest of the state. We had legislation to:

• re-enact the Rural County Tax Incentive Program (that would have helped up to 31 counties);
• extend the tax incentive for data centers constructed in our state; and
• extend the same tax incentives Boeing received to rotorcraft (i.e. helicopters) because a company wanted to build helicopters in Southwest Washington.

I was very surprised the budget didn’t include renewing the server farm/data center tax incentive, especially with the amount of construction, economic development and family-wage jobs we saw it generate.
Other disappointments include:

• The lack of meaningful transportation reforms to ensure gas tax dollars are maximized and WSDOT is held accountable (Bertha shutdown, faulty 520 Bridge pontoons – including cost overruns, waste in the ferry system); and 
• Nothing to help people who have been negatively impacted by Obamacare (290,000 cancellation notices).

I-502 implementation
I was recently appointed as the ranking Republican on the House Government Oversight and Accountability Committee (GOA). This committee works on legislation related to alcohol, gambling and now overseeing the implementation of the legalization of marijuana initiative (I-502).

The citizens of Washington passed the initiative and the Legislature is trying to provide regulations and oversight to make it work. It has proven to be a very difficult task since no other state has done this before. Even Colorado is operating off a very different model than our voters approved. The challenge for me is to ensure local money is included in any implementation plan. Many cities and counties are struggling, including right here in our 12th District.

Local governments are concerned about oversight on marijuana grows and businesses in their localities when no funding has been designated for them in the initiative. Many have considered bans or moratoriums rather than risk increased costs dealing with zoning, planning and enforcement.

Unfortunately, we were unable to reach an agreement before the session adjourned. Senate Bill 5887 would have integrated the medical and recreational marijuana systems, and made several changes related to the possession, growing and purchasing of medical marijuana as well as provide local governments with some of the tax money generated from the I-502 implementation.

We worked on this issue up until the last hour, including a one-on-one meeting with Gov. Jay Inslee. All the stakeholders agreed to keep working to ensure local governments a share in this program.

$15/hour minimum wage?

Washington State Governor Jay Inslee has declared Washington State needs to have a higher minimum wage.  If the worst tradition of "liberalism" Inslee is spending someone else money, but now Inslee is too cowardly to tax it first. 

A minimum wage supposes no dignity of working -- under the minimum wage system, people don't get a wage, they are assigned a scale. 

Government forces upon them the idea that the wage earner is inferior to the employer, that only Big Brother government can make the mean ol' employer pay the wage -- premised upon the idea the worker is too weak to stand on his own hind legs. 

The government supposes the worker is a weakling, and must be protected and coddled and controlled, never to live life as a free citizen, but only to exist until it is convenient for the government autocrats to allow the worker to perish.  No free worker should believe this kind of patronizing.

The economic impact is the minimum wage has always caused a reduction in labor hours, i.e. total employment drops. 

Think about it:  If something goes up in cost, do you 1) buy more of it because you are stupid and loaded with money?  or 2) you buy less of the thing because you are not loaded with money and are watching your expenses too.  

If the $15 hour wage is adopted we will see more automation and less unskilled labor used in the market.  Another impact is new workers in the market, i.e. the young, will get frozen out.

The second result is more severe:  The actual use of labor may drop significantly because the hourly price is set too high.  If $15 is good, why isn't $35 better?  Why not make the minimum wage $35 per hour?

Obviously, government authorities will have to set the amount exactly right, or the economy goes stupid. 

The authoritarian autocrats will never confess that they are bad managers of the economy.  The authoritarian leftist will say something must be wrong with the workers, or the employers are too greedy, or anything except take responsibility.

The whole productive system can grind to a halt and jobs get sent overseas.  Some Authoritarian-Democrats will complain that America is a consumption based economy.  That is stupid.  Production has to equal (or exceed) consumption, otherwise there is a shortage.

Every time the people get fooled into demanding the government do something for them, the people have suffered.  Power always takes more than it gives

~~~~~~~~

Get the power back, workers.

Negotiate your own wage between you and your employer. Once in history, this was done by the local union, but even that doesn't exist anymore. 

Too many greedy authoritarians have seen the money they could get by pretending to be the protector of the people.  All they are looking out for is their own gain.  Don't trust them, workers.

Why don’t Democrats want to Fund Education First?

Republican legislators’ mantra last year during budget negotiations was Fund Education First, and it was a popular one. Not only does our state constitution say that education is the state’s paramount duty, it’s also voters’ number one priority. To them, it is obvious that state leaders should fully fund our paramount duty before other priorities in the budget.

Gov. Inslee announced his plan Tuesday to end seven tax preferences and raise $200 million in new tax revenue this year, to be put toward school operational costs, textbooks, and a cost-of-living raise for teachers. Public radio’s Austin Jenkins asked the governor directly at his press conference why Democrats don’t agree with Republicans’ preference for funding education first and funding other, lower priorities of government through tax increases if Democrats feel that is necessary.

Not surprisingly, Inslee didn’t want to answer that question. Instead, he gave an answer about his current supplemental budget proposal that ignored the premise of the question: If education is the paramount duty of the state, why not fund it first and make a tax fight about other spending?

You don’t have to go back in time very far to see Republicans step up for education while Democrats made their support contingent on getting new taxes approved. Just last year, the Majority Coalition Caucus proposed a budget that increased education funding by $1 billion without needing general tax increases. Budget proposals from the House Democrats and the governor also increased education funding, but only if big tax increases were approved.

Of course, we all know why the governor and his party don’t support Fund Education First, they just can’t say it out loud. As the party of bigger government, they want tax increases, and they think they’re more likely to pass a tax increase if it’s “for schools.” Legislators and the public are less likely to feel pressured to approve new taxes if they went to, say, more government regulations enforced by more government employees.

Unfortunately, Fund Education First doesn’t fit into their Grow Government First agenda at all.

– Rob McKenna

Report from Olympia

The 2014 legislative session is underway. Before the session started the consensus seemed to be we would be done in the 60-day timeframe and there wouldn’t be anything to keep us in Olympia for a special session. However, a January Order issued by the state Supreme Court claimed the Legislature was not doing enough to fund education, even though we pumped an additional $1 billion into K-12 education last year. And, our work with education is not done. The court has clearly overstepped its authority and is violating the separation of powers that is supposed to exist between the three branches of government. Justice Jim Johnson wrote the dissent and I believe was correct. His comments include:

• the legislature holds a constitutionally delegated duty specific to the funding of education. The judiciary does not.
• Such unwarranted extension of judicial authority violates both the constitutional separation of powers and the explicit delegation of definitions and funding for education to the legislature.
• This court’s exercise of continuing jurisdiction in this case usurps what is intended to be and what expressly is a legislative function and duty.
• We are not–and should not be acting as–managers of the state coffers.

Comment cards
I want to thank everyone who has responded with the comment cards. I have received hundreds and your feedback is important to me. The most popular issues tend to be:

• opposition to any new gas tax;
• no new money for the Washington State Department of Transportation until we can show we are using the current monies effectively (eg, the cost overruns on the Seattle tunnel);
• if there is any new money for transportation it should go toward maintenance and preservation only;
• concerns about rising health care premiums and deductibles, and the implementation of Obamacare; 
• lower taxes and regulations on employers so they can create more jobs; and
• fund the teacher COLA’s. 

Legislation moving forward
As many of you know, most sessions I sponsor very few bills. I am not going to draft legislation just for the sake of introducing bills, although there are occasional exceptions. But, I also do not want to draft anything unless I feel there is a legitimate chance to pass the legislation or it will lead to good debate and discussion and could be considered in future sessions. This year has been a different experience for me. I introduced more bills than I have in most sessions. Up to this point I have had public hearings or will have one in the next couple weeks. Issues include:

• Snowmobile license fees:  House Bill 2002 – would raise the snowmobile annual registration and renewal fee to maintain the current level of service for trail maintenance and grooming operations.
• Audits of state universities:  House Bill 2308 – would require the state auditor to conduct a comprehensive financial audit of the University of Washington and Washington State University.
• Independent contractor certification:  House Bill 2147 – would simplify and protect independent contractor classification and provide more consistency under independent contractor guidelines. Read my news release here.
• Payment of property taxes:  House Bill 2309 -  Delays the imposition of penalties imposed on delinquent property taxes and allows a county treasurer to accept partial property tax payments.
• Legislation to enhance our wine industry: House Bill 2327 and House Bill 2355 – the first bill would allow wine to be sold in growlers, the second would allow multiple liquor licenses at certain locations.
• License plate recognition: House Bill 2606 – would address privacy issues around this new technology.
• Marijuana excise tax revenue: House Bill 2144 – would create a dedicated local jurisdiction marijuana fund of which participating counties and cities would receive a certain percentage of the I-502 monies – since there is no current tax collection at the local level.

We are obviously working on a wide variety of issues in our short timeframe. If you have any questions about any of the legislation I have mentioned in this update, or any other issues before the Legislature, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Proposed Minimum Wage Increase
One issue that came up late yesterday (Thursday) you will find very interesting, particularly those in the business community, House Democrats are proposing to increase the minimum wage. Click “House Democrats propose $12 minimum wage” for the story from The Seattle Times. You may know a $15 minimum wage this was a ballot issue in the city of Sea-Tac last November. The city of Seattle is also considering a minimum wage hike. I believe this would hurt our economy and actually decrease the amount of jobs as employers would struggle to come up with a way to pay for the increase in labor costs. It isn’t as simple as just raising the price of your products as many of you in the agricultural industry know.

In January 2014, Bill Gates said: “Well, jobs are a great thing. So you have to be a bit careful: If you raise the minimum wage, you’re encouraging labor substitution, and you’re going to go buy machines and automate things – or cause jobs to appear outside of that jurisdiction. And so within certain limits, you know, it does cause job destruction. If you really start pushing it, then you’re just making a huge trade-off.”

Our state already has the highest minimum wage in the country and Washington state’s youth unemployment rate is fifth in the nation. An increased minimum wage would further reduce employment opportunities for low-skilled workers and teenagers. This also favors larger corporations over small businesses.
Health care numbers
You have likely seen news stories, including national stories, on state-based and the federal health insurance “Exchanges” that indicate our state-based Exchange (Washington HealthPlanFinder) is working well and that we have had good enrollment numbers. Here is a slightly different perspective:

• Of the 454,009 that have completed health plan enrollments using the Exchange as of January 9, 2014, 380,911 are Medicaid, and:

• The majority of Medicaid recipients now do their annual renewals in the Exchange. (183,141 of enrollments were Medicaid renewals)
• Another 63,070 were new Medicaid enrollments eligible under pre-Obamacare Medicaid eligibility requirements. (This includes typical new enrollees each month, and any “welcome mat” enrollment due to Obamacare.)
• 134,700 are newly eligible Medicaid recipients (i.e. Medicaid expansion enrollees/adults under 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level).

Only 73,098 of the Exchange enrollments are for non-Medicaid health plans; and

• 56,285 will receive a tax credit/subsidy (i.e. funded by taxpayers).
• Only 16,813 individuals purchased a “full-price” health plan on the Exchange.
• It was estimated that 130,000 individuals would enroll in a non-Medicaid, Exchange health plan by January 1, 2014.

Rep. Cary Condotta, 12th District

The clear case of government bullying

Freedom and democracy can't be just about elections -- there is too much time between election to ignore serious abuse.   Out of control, bullying tactics have come to Washington State.  The state and local governments are using those tactics to badger and ruin individual people.  What follows is one example.

~~~~~~~~

Captain Dave Petrich built his dream business--the Farm Boat--to bring local, organic produce to Washington residents. That all changed when the City of Seattle came after Dave to collect $8,000 in parking fines incurred by someone else.

The city's aggressive legal tactics shut down the Farm Boat. Dave found himself fighting City Hall alone.

In late September, Freedom Foundation intern Conner Edwards learned of Dave's battle with Seattle. Conner led the Freedom Foundation's charge to help Dave recover his business and document one more story of out-of-control government. We told Dave's story and got the word out about the City's unreasonable actions.

With the Freedom Foundation's help and the power of a story made public, the City-in a rare move-dropped its pursuit of Captain Dave Petrich and the Farm Boat.



Victories like this one are encouraging. They show the power of a story, both to secure victory for one man and one business and to make two key point: unlimited government hurts people and we can fight city hall ... and win!


"... Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and are established to protect and maintain individual rights." Washington State Constitution

The video is produced by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation. 

Student's Self-Defense Leads to University Disciplinary Action

The story comes from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington -- two students living in an off-campus, university-owned apartment were put on probation for the "infraction" of displaying a legally-owned firearm to thwart a home invasion by a convicted felon.

According to a CNN article, on the night of October 24, students Erik Fagan and Daniel McIntosh were in their apartment when there was a knock on the door.  Fagan told CNN affiliate KXLY in Spokane that he opened the door and a stranger, who said he'd just gotten out of jail, asked for $15.  Fagan told KXLY he offered the man a blanket and a can of food, but "didn't feel comfortable" giving the man money because he was a stranger. 

"My gut instinct was telling me I wasn't going to be able to get that door closed before he came through," Fagan said.

As the man started coming through the door, Fagan said he yelled for his roommate, McIntosh.  McIntosh said he came to the door holding his pistol.  When the man saw the gun, the students say he turned and ran away.

The story notes that all university housing is patrolled at regular intervals by campus security, but this particular apartment complex isn't gated, and secured key cards or codes are not required for entrance.

The students called 911 and campus security.  A short time later, police captured the suspect, whom they identified as a six-time convicted felon with an outstanding Department of Corrections warrant.

If the story ended here, we'd have yet another example of how a firearm was successfully used for self-defense against a dangerous criminal without the firing of a shot.  But the story continues.

Unbeknownst to Fagin and McIntosh at the time, having a firearm on university-owned property, is a violation of Gonzaga policy, whether or not that property is located on campus.  At 2:00 a.m. the next morning, campus security officers returned to the students' apartment and confiscated the pistol and a shotgun from the apartment.  The shotgun is owned by Fagan, who uses it to hunt and for sport shooting, and it was not used in the incident.  The pistol belongs to McIntosh, who has a concealed carry permit.  It was a gift to him from his grandfather.

Based on their act of self-preservation, the two students were placed on probation for the rest of their time at Gonzaga.  The penalty will also be a part of their permanent record.  The students are appealing the decision.

After quickly gaining national infamy for its actions, the university has agreed to review its policy and has returned the firearms to the two students but with the stipulation that they not be stored at any property owned or operated by the university.  In other words, Fagan and McIntosh, and all other students living in University property, remain unarmed in their own residences, a fact that will likely not escape notice of the local criminal element.

Gonzaga University reacted to the victimization of its own students on University property by punishing and disarming them. That is outrageous.

Posted at the NRA 

~~~~~~~~

Gun rights -- There is too much fear and too little understanding of how gun rights are not only a matter of self-defense, collecting, hunting and target competitions--but, also a barometer of how well our other rights are protected.

Somebody ought to tell Gonzaga they can lose everything in a massive class action lawsuit if they continue to deny their student body the constitutional right to armed self-defense.

"The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired... ." Washington State Constitution Article 1, Section 24

Inslee seeks carbon tax

"We need smart new policies that encourage the use of clean energy, and technologies like carbon capture, to balance our need for energy with the need to protect the environment.  What we don’t need are ideologues insisting that using taxes and regulations to purposefully drive up the cost of energy is the only way to address these issues.

"Yet, that is essentially what Governor Inslee and his Democratic colleagues from Oregon and California said last week when they signed another version of the West Coast climate initiative.  In this pact, the three Governors – and Premier of British Columbia – pledged to raise the cost of energy by enacting cap and trade, or by simply imposing a new “carbon tax.”  Governor Inslee made it clear earlier that he intends to pursue a cap and trade strategy."

from Could cap and trade be coming to Washington State? posted at Smarter Government  

~~~~~~~~

Even though the tone of the Smart Government article is to question Inslee's proposed policy changes, the whole notion of anthropogenic carbon use climate change is not well supported by genuine scientists. 

The whole cap-and-trade initiative assumes that any "global warming" is anthropogenic.  The hard science seems to indicate that "global warming" is unreal, and therefore any discussion about the human cause is futile.  

But this doesn't stop the big government crowd, who changed the name of their imaginary to "climate change."  The climate has been changing since long before humans arrived in earth, so climate change should not initiate any alarm either.

The genuine appeal of climate change, or whatever, is it will give the big government people more excuse to oppress the people with big government.  Also it furnishes a ready justification to increase taxation so the government officials can be better supported in their gold plated jobs.

Legislative Update

In my last e-mail update I talked about the transportation forums being held around the state by the Senate Majority Coalition Caucus. The forums have concluded and while I was able to attend the one in Wenatchee, I am still interested in hearing your comments and opinion about the proposed transportation tax revenue plan. Please consider taking this short transportation survey and forward to anyone you feel would be interested in taking the survey.

No decisions have been made, so it is still important to me and many other legislators to receive your input. If there is going to be a large gas-tax hike on the table, I want to make sure people have had the opportunity to share their opinions.

No one questions the importance of our transportation infrastructure, but to ensure strong bipartisan support and guarantee all voices are being heard on this issue, we need to make sure a revenue package discussion begins with reforms. It is essential we see some accountability and responsible use of gas tax dollars in our transportation system before taxpayers are asked to pay more.

The reforms need to be first in the transportation debate and not an afterthought. If reforms don’t happen first, those of us in Olympia are all too familiar with what will happen – they will get ignored. These are not just feel-good proposed reforms to be used as negotiating tools. They are important to restore the public’s trust after many botched transportation construction projects:

• SR 520 pontoon design failure – $84 million and counting (initially $71 million); 
• SR 520 tolling delay — $40 million in forgone tolls and $12 million not collected in legal damages for the breach of the contract;
• Columbia River Crossing design — $172 as of March 2013;
• Three years ago, WSDOT built a ramp in the wrong place at the I-5 and SR 16 interchange in Tacoma and had to tear it down — cost to taxpayers $900,000;
• The history of the Chetzemoka Ferry — went into service three months late (November 2010) and $15 million over the estimated cost of construction. One of the smallest ferries in the state’s fleet, yet pound for pound it’s the most expensive ferry ever built anywhere at $80.1 million. Ferry engineers who work on board the vessels have been vocal about the boat’s list, fuel consumption and vibration problems. It has been out of service a number of times for repairs related to these issues.

When citizens of Washington are footing the bill for these errors, I do not think it is too much to ask for some accountability and transparency in our transportation system. In fact, we should not ask for one extra dime until we are sure these items are fixed and we have addressed some of the mistakes made in the past. With reforms in place, we may find out tax increases and more funds are not needed if our current transportation dollars are spent efficiently.
Here is a brief summary of some of the transportation reforms that should be under consideration:

• Require the Washington State Department of Transportation to report costly errors to the Legislature and put forward solutions to avoid making the same mistake twice;
• Return sales tax from transportation construction to the transportation budget;
• Implement state auditor’s recommendations to reform the Ferry Capital Program;
• Open a dialogue about prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements;
• Streamline environmental permitting;
• Add congestion relief to the state’s required list of transportation priorities;
• Use of Public-Private Partnerships; and
• Reform the state’s regional transit authority boards.

Please let me know if you have any questions. This is may be the biggest issue we face in the upcoming session, if not sooner, and your feedback is important. Again, I hope you will fill out the survey and share your comments and concerns. I will share the results of the survey in the near future.
Sincerely,
Cary Condotta

Ballot 2013

Initiatives

Initiative Measure No. 517 concerns initiative and referendum measures.  If enacted I-517 would have three related results.

First, I-517 would make it illegal to interfere or retaliate against  signature-gatherers and/or petition-signers.  There have been cases recently where thugs have intimidated petitioners.    Second, it will require that all measures receiving sufficient signatures appear on the ballot.  This is primarily to prevent the use of the courts to rule the people cannot vote.   Lastly,  petition drives would have more time to gather initiative petition signatures.

I-517 safeguards the petition process.  Thus it will help to promote a healthy democracy in Washington State.  Impolite recommends you vote Yes on I-517.

---

Initiative Measure No. 522:  "Mandatory Labeling of Genetically Engineered Food" measure. 522 started out as an initiative to the legislature, calling on the legislature to enact some new content regulations for food labeling.  The legislature referred the matter back to the people so we get to vote.


Everybody wants to know what they are eating, naturally.  Reasonable requirements for food labeling can include a list of modified ingredients.  But many people are frightened they are eating unhealthy, totally artificial food.  Fear is the mind killer.  People should eat more right to be healthy.

You are not a carrot or a corn plant - those are genetically different from most voters.   Why don't people think about the fact that when they eat something, it is a totally different genetically?  Your digestive system is designed to break down products of foreign genetics into stuff your body can use.

~~~~~~~~

"Taking a purely empirical view, labeling of genetically modified organisms provides little useful consumer health or safety information. GE products currently in the marketplace have proven safe in foods and animal feeds through use and testing. Environmentally, these products can have a good record of improvement over conventional production methods while maintaining the high yields and profits necessary for farmers.  These facts have been repeatedly demonstrated in the peer reviewed scientific literature... ."  Source

~~~~~~~~

Nonetheless, the I-522 campaign is cheap politics.

An ad for 522 claims initiatives opponents are supported by dark and sinister corporations, therefore they are lying.  The I-522 campaign says there will be no increase in cost.  The state says the cost of I-522 will be "non-zero but indeterminate cost and/or savings" according to the Office of Fiscal Management's fiscal note.  Even though  the cost is unknown, that is not the same as no cost at all.  The I-522 campaign is lying

The I-522 tells you I-522 opponents are supported by 'corporations' (cue spooky music).  The I-522 campaign won't tell you they get most of their support from "organic" foods corporations.  Organic foods companies to sell unprocessed or less-processed foods, unpasteurized milk products, and soybean curd.  Organic food is a huge profit maker.

I-522 labeling requirement are focused at processed foods.  You can see this is mainly a way for the "organic" foods people to lash out at processed foods companies -- so the "organic" corporations can grab more profit.  Most of the money for 522 is coming in from out of state. 

~~~~~~~~

I-522 is half-baked.  Too bad the legislature didn't do their jobs and write some sensible law when they had the chance (Maybe that is too much to hope).   Impolite recommends a no vote on I-522. 

Eat your vegetables.  Watch your weight.  Be healthy.

---

Advisory Votes

Advisory votes are non-binding. The results will not change the law.  These makes the matter seem trivial to most people so it drops off the radar.  Despite the fact that the vote is advisory, it is important to be informed about the legislature's activities.

There are five new tax questions:

SSB 5444, titled AN ACT Relating to administration of taxes regarding publicly owned property, was passed by the House of Representatives. The Office of Financial Management has identified this bill as requiring a ten-year projection of increased cost to the taxpayers or affected feepayers.

Ten-year projection:

Fiscal Year		Leasehold      Excise Tax
2014		$ 145,000
2015		167,000
2016		175,000
2017		183,000
2018		194,000
2019		202,000
2020		210,000
2021		218,000
2022		227,000
2023		235,000
Total:		$ 1,956,000

 ~~~~~~~~

SB 5627, titled AN ACT Relating to the taxation of commuter air carriers, has been passed by the House of Representatives. The Office of Financial Management has identified this bill as requiring a ten-year projection of increased cost to the taxpayers or affected feepayers.

Ten-year projection:

Fiscal Year		Aircraft Excise Tax
2014		$  35,000
2015		35,000
2016		38,000
2017		38,000
2018		41,000
2019		41,000
2020		44,000
2021		44,000
2022		47,000
2023		47,000
Total:		$ 410,000

~~~~~~~~

The House of Representatives has concurred with ESHB 1846 AMS WM S2534.1 as amended by the Senate, titled AN ACT Relating to stand-alone dental coverage, and has passed the bill final passage. The Office of Financial Management has identified this bill as requiring a ten-year projection of increased cost to the taxpayers or affected feepayers.

Ten-year projection:

Section 3(6)(c) of this bill removes the exemption for pediatric oral services offered as essential health benefits outside the Washington Health Benefit Exchange. Since these services have previously been exempted, this will result in additional revenue for the insurance premium tax. However, the amount of taxable activity resulting from pediatric oral health care services benefits cannot be estimated. Consequently, the amount of additional revenue attributed to pediatric oral services offered as essential health benefits outside the Health Benefit Exchange is indeterminate.

~~~~~~~~

2E2SHB 1971, titled AN ACT Relating to communications services reform, was passed by the Senate in the 2013 2^nd Special Session. The Office of Financial Management has identified this bill as requiring a ten-year projection of increased cost to the taxpayers or affected feepayers.

Ten-year projection:

Fiscal Year		Retail Sales Tax
2014		$  36,258,000
2015		12,875,000
2016		43,470,000
2017		43,470,000
2018		43,470,000
2019		43,470,000
2020		43,470,000
2021		43,470,000
2022		43,470,000
2023		43,470,000
Total:		$ 396,893,000

~~~~~~~~

EHB 2075, titled AN ACT Relating to preserving funding deposited into the education legacy trust account used to support common schools and access to higher education by restoring the application of the Washington estate and transfer tax to certain property transfers while modifying the estate and transfer tax to provide tax relief for certain estates, has been passed by the Senate in the 2013 2^nd Special Session. The Office of Financial Management has identified this bill as requiring a ten-year projection of increased cost to the taxpayers or affected feepayers.

Ten-year projection:

Fiscal Year		Estate Tax
2014		$ 109,700,000
2015		39,300,000
2016		39,300,000
2017		35,300,000
2018		34,400,000
2019		40,000,000
2020		42,300,000
2021		44,300,000
2022		46,100,000
2023		47,700,000
Total:		$ 478,400,000

~~~~~~~~

That's a total of $877,659,000 in new taxes.

You can verify this information at the ballot info listserve

---

Election results will be posted here after the election.