Author Archives: walegcommunications

Braun: Senate budget proposal a positive step, despite significant issues to address

Sen. John Braun said the new supplemental budget proposal publicly released by Senate Democrats earlier today leaves the door open for bipartisan engagement. Lawmakers are in the final stretch of a short 60-day session to update the state’s two-year operating budget, passed last year.

“Early indicators show that the Senate budget chair is interested in working across the aisle toward an end result. While we may have differences of opinion on a range of issues, this plan demonstrates a serious commitment toward responsible budgeting. I remain committed to working with the chair to help where I can and advocate for areas that need improvement.

“Protection of our historic education investments and respect for the critically important four-year balanced budget requirement are positive signs. That said, there are still some distinct areas that need improvement, most of which I think we can solve, especially given our strong economy.

“We can and must do better for our special-education students. We should also respect the bipartisan agreement to provide tax parity for manufacturing businesses to help create jobs in this struggling sector.

“I also appreciate that Senate and House Democrats have started to come around on offering property-tax relief after the negative response I received when proposing this in September. However, I do not think the Senate proposal goes far enough, especially when the state is expected to take in an additional $2.3 billion over the next three years.

“Out of everything, my biggest concern remains prioritization of the court and other adults in the education system over children. Adding $1 billion to our school system one year sooner without any accompanying structural changes will create significant long-term problems for school districts, the state and taxpayers, while doing nothing to directly help school children.”

Lawmakers are tasked with updated the state’s two-year operating budget which runs from July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2019. The current budget spends more than $44 billion and makes historic investments in public education and mental health.

Telephone Town Hall Meeting

Please join me for a telephone town hall meeting on Monday, February 19.

The community conversation will begin at 6:30 p.m. and last one hour. Representative Ed Orcutt and I will share a brief update on the 2018 legislative session and spend most of the time answering your questions.

The event is much like an interactive radio program. Participants may ask questions or just listen to the discussion of issues that affect our local community and entire state.

To participate call (360) 209-3911. Once connected, you can press * (star) on your telephone keypad to get in line to ask a question.

Questions can also be submitted in advance by email if you are not available or would prefer not to ask live on the call.

I can be reached at (360) 786-7638 or john.braun@leg.wa.gov,

I hope you can join us.

Property tax relief achievable with strong revenue growth

Following yet another positive revenue forecast, Sen. John Braun said property tax relief in 2018 was not only achievable but an obvious choice. Education funding legislation approved last year increased the 2018 state property tax before local levies are reduced in 2019 as part of transitioning to a new funding system.

“More than $2 billion in additional resources means we can eliminate this year’s property tax increase without cutting programs or raising taxes. Most importantly, we can do this while protecting and enhancing the historic education investments we made last year,” said Braun, R-Centralia, who serves as ranking minority member on the Senate Ways and Means Committee. “While more than 70 percent of the state will see a property tax decrease beginning in 2019, we have a clear opportunity to address this issue now.”

In June the Legislature passed a state operating budget that projects to balance over four years. Third and fourth quarter revenue forecasts by the state’s chief economist in 2017 already projected $1 billion in additional revenue. Today’s forecast added another $1.3 billion.

On Friday lawmakers will also receive an updated caseload forecast — the number of people needing services — which Braun expects will free up even more spending already allocated in the budget.

“A one-year increase was not my preferred method for funding our schools, but was necessary to reach a bipartisan agreement with House Democrats last year,” said Braun. “In September when I first proposed using additional revenues for property tax relief it didn’t seem to have much support across the aisle. But a strong economy and our balanced budget provide a simple opportunity to help property owners, without any negative impacts to an already robust state budget.”

Lawmakers are on day 39 of a 60-day session. Budget leaders are expected to release supplemental budget proposals in the coming week.

Braun: giveaway to powerful union an insult to workers, most vulnerable and taxpayers

Members of the Washington State Senate remained on the floor into the early morning hours today to debate costly legislation that circumvents constitutional protections for Washington’s individual provider home care workers. Sen. John Braun, strongly opposes the proposed policy and process by which the Senate Democratic Majority attempted to advance the legislation.

“Putting the financial interests of one powerful union ahead of the rights of tens of thousands of workers and interests of millions of taxpayers is wrong no matter what time of day,” said Braun, R-Centralia, in reference to floor action that saw lawmakers work into the early morning hours.
“As many issues as I have with the policy, we also had serious concerns about the process. In an attempt to improve an incredibly flawed bill, we offered a series of substantive policy amendments. Their response was to employ procedural tactics to prevent us from speaking and eventual resignation by the majority from engaging in any meaningful discussion.”

The state Department of Social and Health Services serves as the employer for Washington’s 30,000 individual provider home care providers. Nearly two-thirds of these workers provide care for their own family members who are most often elderly parents or children with developmental
disabilities. Following a 2014 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Harris v. Quinn, they are no longer forced to join a union or pay an agency fee.

The proposed legislation establishes a private third-party entity to employ the care providers, which would cost taxpayers $26 million per budget cycle for no expanded or improved service. Braun said that creating a private employer relationship also removes protections from having to join the union to receive reimbursement and communications from public disclosure.

“Moving to a private employer is a poorly disguised and intentional act to circumvent workers’ constitutional protections and prioritize powerful special interests ahead of the rights of lower-paid workers,” said Braun.

In addition to voting on amendments, the Senate Democratic Majority attempted to hold a final vote on the bill early in the morning. They were not able to advance it as Republicans objected. The bill now cannot be brought to the floor until Friday at the earliest.

Braun detailed issues with the proposal, which he called the most cynical and disingenuous bill in Olympia, in the latest edition of Economic Sense.

Braun bill to improve management of state trust lands heard in budget committee

Legislation aimed at improving management of Washington state’s forest trust lands was the subject of a public hearing in Monday’s Senate Ways and Means Committee. The bill, sponsored by Sen. John Braun, establishes an average annual goal of raising $230 million from activities on the state’s forest and trust lands.

“It’s possible to protect our natural resources and maximize their value to our citizens and schools,” said Braun, R-Centralia, who is the ranking minority member of the budget-writing committee. “Overall returns to the taxpayers have gone down and it’s clear that better management and operations must be prioritized. Providing clear expectations to the department will help ensure the state generates adequate resources that help our schools and create jobs throughout the state.”

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources is responsible for managing 2 million acres of federally granted trust lands. The overwhelming majority of the acreage — 1.8 million — provide revenue for public schools, with the rest going toward state universities, correctional facilities and the Capitol campus in Olympia. The department is also charged with overseeing more than 600,000 acres of state forest land, with revenues supporting the county and local taxing districts.

Revenues come from timber harvest, agricultural leases for grazing and crops, as well as leasing sites for telecommunications equipment, mining and energy production. In addition to generating income for the state, the lands are also managed to protect habitat for plant and animals, water resources and recreation opportunities.

In addition to setting revenue targets, the legislation also directs DNR to create a strategy for meeting financial targets. Braun specifically wants to see better utilization of high-value lands that are not generating reasonable returns.

“These lands and the resources on them are valuable to rural communities by helping protect family-wage jobs in places that haven’t seen the same job growth and economic opportunity as other parts of the state,” said Braun, who represents parts of Lewis, Cowlitz, Clark and Thurston Counties.

Braun said returns on managed lands have gone down from $228 million per year in the 1990’s to $197 million per year in the 2000’s.

The bill was already approved by the Senate Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources & Parks Committee, which gave unanimous support and forwarded it along to the Senate budget committee.

Exempting $100,000 in home value from property taxes more equitable, progressive approach to tax relief

Homeowners throughout the entire state would see tax relief under newly proposed legislation exempting $100,000 of the value of a primary residence from state property tax. Sen. John Braun sponsored a constitutional amendment authorizing a homestead exemption, which would go to voters in 2018, and legislation setting the $100,000 level, which would be allowed to grow along with property tax collections. The bills will receive a public hearing during today’s meeting of the Senate Ways and Means Committee hearing at 3:30 p.m.

“The property tax burden has shifted more to homeowners in recent decades. Given that state revenues continue to grow, we have a great opportunity to provide equitable relief to all Washingtonians,” said Braun, R-Centralia, who serves as the Ranking Minority Member on the Senate Ways and Means Committee. “Lowering  the median homeowner’s state property tax burden by one-third translates to a 50 percent tax reduction in a majority of the state’s 39 counties. This would be especially impactful to rural residents who are not seeing the same growth in property value and job opportunities as other parts of the state.”

The most recent forecast by the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council anticipates the state will collect $6 billion in property taxes in the 2017-19 budget cycle and $7.2 billion in the 2019-21 cycle. Braun’s proposal projects to provide $500 million per year of tax relief to homeowners.

“Instead of shifting the tax burden with targeted relief, this equitable approach reduces the property taxes of all homeowners with everyone qualifying for the same exemption,” said Braun. “This progressive approach provides the owner of a $200,000 home with a 50 percent reduction in their state property taxes, which is more meaningful than a 10 percent reduction for a one million dollar home.”

Braun’s legislation would neither impact property tax collections by local governments nor impact property taxes paid by the business community.

If approved by voters in 2018, property tax reduction would go into effect for tax collections beginning in 2020.

Both bills would be required to implement the plan. Passing the constitutional amendment requires the approval of two-thirds of the Legislature followed by a simple majority vote of the people at the next general election.

Community college students would pay 10% lower tuition under Braun bill

More than 170,000 students attending Washington’s 34 community and technical colleges would pay 10 percent less in tuition under new legislation sponsored by Sen. John Braun.

“More jobs than ever require some training or education after high school,” said Braun. “The state’s community and technical colleges train students in a variety of incredibly important skills that set them up for success in the workforce. Making these opportunities more affordable is better for our economy and our communities.”

Tuition policy has been a key focus for Braun who sponsored the 2015 College Affordability Program, which implemented the first tuition cut in state history. This followed the 2013-15 budget that froze tuition, putting an end to massive increases seen during the previous decade. Similar to the recent tuition cut, the Legislature would be responsible for providing additional state funding to the schools to make up for lower tuition revenues to avoid impacting educational services.

The cost of in-state tuition for full-time community college students is $3,936 in the 2017-18 school year. Braun’s legislation would represent an almost $400 annual savings beginning in the 2018-19 school year.

The 2015 legislation reduced tuition by 5 percent for public community and technical colleges. It also began a reduction of 15 percent at regional universities like Western, Central and Eastern Washington Universities and the Evergreen State College, and 20 percent at the University of Washington and Washington State University.

“While we made our major two-year budget decisions last year, these intermediate years provide a great opportunity to make smaller strategic investments that help residents,” said Braun. “With the state projected to take in an additional $1 billion more in the next four years than we expected when we passed the current budget, the Legislature is in the financial position to make this strategic investment.”

The proposal projects to cost the state $22 million per year.

Lower B&O taxes for manufacturers proposed to help reverse job losses

A bipartisan group of lawmakers are hoping to revive a reduction in the state’s business and occupation tax for manufacturers and reverse the trend of significant job losses in the sector. The proposal would implement a 40 percent reduction in the tax rate for manufacturers, which passed with overwhelming support during the 2017 legislative session, but was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Jay Inslee.

“Washington’s manufacturing sector has lost more than 50,000 jobs this century,” said Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, who sponsored and negotiated the 2017-19 budget which originally included the change. “Manufacturing jobs are critical to helping rural and suburban areas experience some of the same economic success urban communities have seen in recent years. We know we can afford this strategic investment since we paid for it in the current budget and are now projected to collect $1 billion more than we expected just seven months ago.”

The legislation phases in a reduction from a tax rate of 0.4840% down to 0.2904% by lowering it 10% annually over four years. That would bring all manufacturing businesses down to the same rate paid by Boeing and other aerospace businesses.

Manufacturing employment is the only sector in Washington to see job losses in the 21st century.  Of the jobs lost, 47,200 have been outside of the aerospace sector.

The new proposal includes a tax preference performance statement which highlights that the change is intended to create and retain jobs, improve industry competitiveness, and reduce structural inefficiencies.

Lawmakers are on day 16 of a short 60-day legislative session scheduled to end March 8.

New capital budget makes major investments in flood protection and schools

The Washington State Legislature approved a new capital budget Thursday evening, bringing a variety of investments in infrastructure and community projects to Southwest Washington according to Sen. John Braun. The $4.2 billion budget, which runs through June 2019, makes historic investments in building schools, expanding mental health treatment facilities and preventing and protecting the area from catastrophic flooding.

“Everyone in our community knows far too well the devastating toll major flooding events have on personal safety, property and our local economy,” said Braun, R-Centralia. “I’m pleased we were able to secure $60 million toward advancing our long-term strategy to reduce the impacts of flood damage in the Chehalis River basin.”

While the state’s operating budget pays for the day-to-day costs of running state government, the capital budget pays for long-term infrastructure and community-oriented projects. These include new school buildings, state government facilities, environmental cleanup, public health and treatment facilities and a variety of other grants.

The biggest ticket item includes $1 billion toward the state’s School Construction Assistance Program, the largest investment in state history. The fund provides support for districts building new schools or modernizing existing facilities.

“Providing more classrooms will help schools implement our investments in reducing the class size for students in kindergarten through third grade,” said Braun. “While we’ve allocated money to pay for the operational costs, it’s clear some districts need assistance building new schools or expanding existing buildings.”

The 20th Legislative District Braun represents will also receive grants for local parks, Boys and Girls Clubs in Chehalis and Rochester, museums and local historical buildings.

The Green Hill School — a state-run center for juvenile offenders in Chehalis — also sees an additional $3.3 million for safety and building improvements.

The capital budget and the bonds needed to pay for it received overwhelming bipartisan support and are now headed to the governor for review and to be signed into law.