Tag Archives: budget

STATEMENT: Republican leader says California tax refunds make Washington Democrats look heartless

CENTRALIA… Tomorrow, middle-class households across California will begin receiving tax-refund payments to help with what one state official calls “inflated costs for everyday necessities.”

Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, responded by pointing out how in Washington, Gov. Jay Inslee and Democratic legislators have refused all year long to offer meaningful tax relief yet are on track to shower a select group of people with money that will help them contend with historically high prices.

“Democratic leaders in our state seem blind to the hardships being faced by families, especially those in the middle. Every time Republicans have tried to let the people keep more of their own money instead of giving it to the state, Democrats have said no. Gas prices are climbing again, but when we proposed an immediate suspension of the state gas tax, to save drivers 49.4 cents per gallon, the governor and other Democrats resorted to disinformation. They talk about making ‘targeted investments’ instead of offering broad tax relief, as Republicans would do. We’re seeing what that means: historically generous pay raises for members of public-sector unions, secretly negotiated by the governor.

“For years Washington has blindly mimicked California on energy and environmental policies that make living in our state less affordable. Now that California is putting money back into the pockets of its people, and acknowledging that they could use some help from government, Governor Inslee won’t follow and our Democratic colleagues in the Legislature are silent.

“Within a matter of months, middle-income families in Washington will see a host of tax increases – from those taken directly out of their wages, to higher sales and property taxes, to increased costs of driving – all due to policies enacted by Democrats and signed by Governor Inslee in the past two legislative sessions. In that light, the choice to approve fat new labor agreements instead of helping families sends a clear message: Some people matter more than the rest. State employees do valuable work, but this makes Inslee and any Democrats who support his selective giveaway of taxpayer dollars look heartless. Olympia badly needs a change in direction.”

STATEMENT: 2022 session didn’t work for all of Washington, say Republican legislative leaders

OLYMPIA… The Legislature’s Republican leaders say the just-completed 2022 session fell short on addressing concerns they and other Republican lawmakers have been hearing from people across Washington.

House Republican Leader J.T. Wilcox, of Yelm:

“The 2022 session will be remembered for lawmakers attempting to fix problems created in recent sessions, a partisan transportation package that raises fees on Washingtonians, and a failure to deliver meaningful tax relief to families despite a historic budget surplus. And for the second year in a row, House Democrats showed no interest in emergency powers reform. When lawmakers return in January 2023, hopefully we’ll have a wiser and more collaborative Legislature that listens to all parts of the state.

“I’m proud of the real solutions introduced by House Republicans. We offered detailed budget frameworks that included significant tax relief, a comprehensive public safety package, transportation alternatives, true emergency powers reform, and a plan for our environment. We were not just the loyal opposition; we showed Washingtonians they have a choice when it comes to governing.”

Senate Republican Leader John Braun, of Centralia:

“The contrasts between Senate Republicans and our majority colleagues were on full display this session. Our priorities were public safety, affordability and trust – things that are important to all the people of Washington, regardless of where they live and who they are. The people can see how Democrats went a different direction, choosing against meaningful tax relief for families despite a 15-billion-dollar surplus. They’ll feel the fee increases tied to the partisan new transportation package, and notice how Democrats struggled to do even the bare minimum to make our communities safer. Parents will wonder why the majority fell short on responding to concerns about the pandemic learning loss. People who have become distrustful of government will question why only Republicans are serious about installing the checks and balances that will allow the public’s concerns to be heard during a future state of emergency.

“We challenged the majority’s proposals with what we still view as better ideas, like immediate gas-tax relief and a plan to help our communities afford more public-safety resources. Sometimes we were successful – it’s because of Republicans that law-enforcement agencies are getting some crime-fighting tools back. Otherwise, our proposals to reestablish public safety, rebuild public trust, and make life in Washington more affordable were blocked. If there was any question where the interests of our Democratic colleagues lie, it’s been answered by the decisions made these past 60 days.”

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.

Use unexpected tax revenues to reduce short-term property-tax impacts

With state tax collections and projected revenues continuing to rise, Sen. John Braun says he’s willing to use up to $1 billion of unexpected revenue to smooth next year’s transition to the new education-funding system lawmakers adopted in June.

While more than 70 percent of state taxpayers will see a net property-tax decrease once reforms are phased in, the Legislature’s overhaul of the K-12 funding system has the entire state slated for a tax-rate increase of $0.81 per $1,000 assessed property value in 2018.

“Creating an equitable and long-term education funding system for our state required a great deal of compromise,” said Braun, R-Centralia, who serves as chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee and a member of the education funding negotiating team. “Anything more than a short-term property-tax increase necessary to transition between funding systems was not my preferred method. Ultimately, a one-year increase was necessary to reach an agreement across the aisle.

“Having heard similar concerns about property-tax increases from the governor and my Democratic colleagues, I expect we will see bipartisan support for this legislation.”

Every year state government issues quarterly, four-year revenue projections. Braun proposes using 75 percent of the unexpected revenue growth – the amount that exceeds the June 2017 forecast – over the next four years to reduce the impacts of the $0.81 state property-tax rate increase in 2018. The total offset to the state property tax would be capped at $1 billion.

“With the Legislature having already passed a budget that balances for the next four years, this would provide us with an opportunity to fully fund state government while reducing the impact on working families and people with fixed incomes,” said Braun.

Beginning in 2019, under Washington’s new education funding system, a school district’s local levy will be limited to a maximum of $1.50/$1,000 of assessed property value, up to $2,500 per student. Braun said more than 70 percent of state property owners will have a lower tax rate between 2019 and 2021 than they do now, even if all school districts fully utilize local levy capacity. The amount of people receiving property tax relief would grow if school districts used only a portion or none of their locally allowable levy.

Once this year’s education-funding reforms are phased in school districts will receive the same or more money in state funding alone as they currently take from state and local taxes combined.

Greetings Friends and Neighbors,

In this newsletter you will find the eighth edition of my policy letter, Economic Sense. This edition looks into the Governor’s historically expensive proposed collective bargaining agreements and examines whether they are the best use of taxpayer funds. It addresses lost opportunities, and provides context around state employee pay, retention, and impacts on the state budget.

Bottom Line: Up Front

Very Expensive & Unusual – The Governor negotiated Collective Bargaining Agreements for 2017-19 that are double the cost of any prior agreements. The result is nearly half of the state’s workforce receiving pay increases of more than 10% over the next two years.

Unnecessary? – Reports from the Governor’s own budget office show that Washington does a good job retaining employees. The turnover rate is well-below the national public sector average.

Huge Opportunity Cost – Budgeting is about priorities. For approximately half the cost of the CBAs, inroads on significant public policy issues could be made…

Please click here to read the entire newsletter.

John Braun,

20th District State Senator

Contact Me:

Email:John.Braun@leg.wa.gov

Olympia Office:

407 Legislative Building

PO Box 40420

Olympia, WA 98504-0420

Phone:(360) 786-7638

Website: SenatorJohnBraun.org

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Braun letter takes Governor’s budget proposal to task – previous budget decisions were “indefensible”

In advance of the Governor’s budget submittal due in December, Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, sent the attached letter to the director of the Office of Financial Management. The letter seeks to ensure that recent collective bargaining agreements (CBAs),that were conducted in secret, are financially feasible as required by law.

The cost of the CBAs total over $700 million from the state’s general fund in the next two years and more than $1.7 billion over the next four.

Braun points out “indefensible” budget decisions from the previous budget cycles collective bargaining agreements that:

Reduced nursing home payments by over $100 million;
Eliminated funding for “Safe Babies, Safe Moms”;
Reduced breast, cervical and colon cancer screenings for low-income individuals by 15 percent;

And much more…

Read the full letter here.

Sen. Braun’s E-newsletter – May 09, 2016

Greetings Friends and Neighbors,

The Legislature finally adjourned after a 20-day special session to conclude work on the state’s supplemental budget. As the lead budget negotiator in the Senate this year, I worked to ensure a sustainable and responsible budget that would allow us to live within our means.

I believe we accomplished those goals with the budget we passed. The final agreement meets the requirements of Washington’s 4-year balanced budget law, preserves the rainy day fund, and refuses to go back to the irresponsible budgets of years past.

This is in contrast to the original proposal from House Democrats that drained the state’s rainy day fund, reduced K-3 class-size spending by $500 million, and proposed news taxes to pay for new state programs. Instead, we continue our investments in K-12 education, fully fund historic tuition cuts, and improve treatment for our state’s most vulnerable including the disabled and mentally ill. We said no to higher taxes and insisted on a sustainable budget with no gimmicks.

Unfortunately, some of our work was undone when Governor Inslee vetoed several cost-saving measures in the budget before signing it.The result was the loss of over $200 million in cost savings. The governor’s vetoes undercut this work and will make our job building a balanced two-year budget next year much more difficult.

I firmly believe that without the influence of the Senate Majority Coalition, the future of our state would be much different. Over the past four years, we have brought needed discipline to our state’s budgeting process. We have consistently lived within our means, funded our state’s real priorities such as education and our most vulnerable, and held the line on new taxes.

My work in the Legislature

In addition to working on the state’s budget, I had the opportunity to sponsor a number of bills aimed at improving our state and local community. Several of these bills were requests from constituents and local businesses who have already experienced benefits from this legislation such as changing the way the state provides industrial insurance for students and volunteers as well as expanding access to mental health services by allowing qualified physician assistants to deliver critical services. Click here for more information on bills that I have sponsored.

I have also been developing a policy newsletter, called “Economic Sense,” that takes an in-depth look at issues facing the Legislature. Please take a moment and read highlights from the latest editions and visit my website for more information.

SJR 8215: A Compromise Giving Voters a Say in Tax Increases

Simple majority of Legislature to raise taxes that must be referred to voters

The Senate Majority Coalition Caucus has tried twice to give voters the opportunity to make the popular two-thirds majority tax-vote rule part of Washington State’s constitution, where it would be safe from judicial or legislative interference. Senate Democrats have stood in the way, saying it would allow a minority of legislators to block the actions of the majority. SJR 8215 offers a compromise resolving the Senate minority’s concern, while ensuring voters have a say before tax increases are enacted.

Click here to read more.

Pension Liability & Debt Service – A Growing Share of the Budget Pie

Pension liabilities and debt service are the fastest growing areas of the state budget, costing almost $4 billion together. This is more than the combined state support of the mentally ill, those with developmental disabilities, nursing homes, early learning and the UW & WSU.

These costs are putting our ability to provide essential services at risk. Reforms are needed to ensure taxpayer dollars are not consumed by long-term debt service and pension liabilities.

Click here to read more.

Who Makes our Laws?

During each legislative session I take an in-depth look at significant economic policy issues. The most recent edition of my “Economic Sense” policy paper concerns administrative rule making. My legislative proposal will rein in executive agencies that have increased the number of rules, which have the force and effect of law, by 38 percent over the past decade. The Washington Administrative Code (WAC) now contains 22,000 pages of rules that impact every aspect of our lives. The problem is that those rules are made by unelected and unaccountable agencies with minimal input from the public. My bill, SB 6396, will require all new rules to automatically sunset the year following their enactment unless legislative action is taken.

Click here to read this most recent edition of “Economic Sense” and take a look at my website to catch up on previous editions on topics ranging from state employee compensation to higher education.

Staying in Touch

You received this email report because you are a 20th Legislative District resident. Under election-related rules, Senators who are up for re-election later this year – including me – are allowed to send two e-newsletters to those who have not actively subscribed to them. If you wish to continue to receive additional updates you must subscribe.

I hope you will take a moment to sign up so I may provide you with more news about your state government. Just click on the link below. Due to those restrictions this will be the last communication you will receive from my legislative office until after the 2016 elections.

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It is an honor to serve as your state Senator. Please do not hesitate to reach out to my office with questions or concerns regarding your state government.

Sincerely,

John Braun,

20th District State Senator

Contact Me:

Email:John.Braun@leg.wa.gov

Olympia Office:

407 Legislative Building

PO Box 40420

Olympia, WA 98504-0420

Phone:(360) 786-7638

Website: SenatorJohnBraun.org

Share my E-newsletter

Click here to subscribe!

Bipartisan agreement reached on 2016 supplemental budget

Budget leaders from the Washington State Senate and House of Representatives today announced they have reached agreement on an update of the state’s current two-year operating budget. Work on a supplement to the 2015-17 budget has been under way since the 2016 regular legislative session gave way to a special session March 10. The updated spending plan includes adjustments that will pay for the costs of fighting the 2015 wildfires and increased funding for mental health care, while complying with the state’s four-year balanced-budget requirement.

“Last year we found broad bipartisan agreement on a sustainable two-year budget that made historic investments in K-12 education and reduced college tuition, while living within the means provided by taxpayers,” said Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, who serves as vice chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee and is a lead budget negotiator. “This year’s budget update builds upon those investments and addresses the needs of Washington residents, including significant improvements in mental health treatment and care for some of our most vulnerable citizens.”

Lawmakers are expected to vote on the bipartisan agreement Tuesday.

“Every legislative session is an opportunity to do something to improve the lives of Washington’s seven million residents,” said Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish, chair of the House Appropriations Committee. “It took a little longer than I had hoped, but this budget was worth the wait. The Legislature will make key investments that address the teacher shortage crisis, improve mental health services, reduce homelessness, and improve the lives of foster kids. It’s not everything we wanted, of course, but that’s the reality of a divided government. The only path forward is through compromise and that’s what we’ve done with this budget agreement.”

Final budget details will be available online at leap.leg.wa.gov by Tuesday morning.

Braun stands for taxpayers, votes to put 2/3rds tax increase amendment to the people

Deputy Majority Leader Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia voted Friday to let Washingtonians have the final word on requiring a two-thirds majority in the Legislature to raise taxes. Senate Joint Resolution 8211, which would let voters decide on a constitutional amendment requiring a supermajority to raise taxes, failed to receive support from the Senate’s minority Democrats, falling short of the 33 votes needed to move to the House of Representatives.

“The voters in our state have said numerous times that it should be more difficult for the Legislature to raise taxes and I’m disappointed that the measure failed,” said Braun. “Today’s vote was about letting the taxpayers exercise their right to amend their constitution concerning taxes.”

Voters approved Initiative 1185 in 2012 which would have limited the Legislature’s ability to raise taxes, requiring a two-thirds majority vote. However, the state Supreme Court ruled that initiative unconstitutional in 2013.

“I believe that Washingtonians deserved an opportunity to vote on an amendment to our state’s constitution on this issue,” said Braun. “In 2012, 75 percent of the voters in my district supported making it harder for the state to take more of their hard-earned money and I don’t think that sentiment has changed. I’m disappointed that some here in Olympia think the only solution to the problems facing our state is more taxes and are unwilling to let the citizens vote on this constitutional change.”

SJR 8211defined “raise taxes” as any action or combination of actions that increase state tax revenue deposited into any fund, budget, or account. It also required a simple-majority vote in both legislative chambers to impose or increase a fee; that change would end lawmakers’ practice of delegating the fee-setting authority to various state agencies.