Tag Archives: taxes

Republican leader calls for new path toward housing affordability

20th District senator says Democrat colleague’s proposal
to reduce pain at pump also deserves consideration

CENTRALIA… The excessive financial windfall from Washington’s cap-and-tax policy should be used to address the affordability crisis facing the state’s homeowners and renters, says Senate Republican Leader John Braun.

As of last month, state government had already raked in $919.5 million from the combination of quarterly and other auctions of “carbon allowances” allowed under the cap-and-tax policy – formally known as the Climate Commitment Act. The state Department of Ecology announced Wednesday that nearly 8.6 million more allowances sold at a “settlement price” of more than $63 apiece at its third-quarter auction, held Aug. 30. The exact proceeds from that auction will be announced later this month.

Under the cap-and-tax law, roughly $720 million in cap-and-tax proceeds are to be reserved for transportation purposes each fiscal biennium. Braun says the remaining auction proceeds, which could easily top $1 billion before legislators convene for their 2024 session, should be turned into financial relief for property owners and renters.

“While Republicans are determined to address our state’s affordability crisis, many on the majority side seem content to let the cost of living climb even higher,” said Braun, a Centralia resident who serves the 20^th Legislative District. “The governor and majority Democrat leaders apparently believe they must discourage fossil-fuel emissions by any means available, even though their climate policy is functioning just like another one of the regressive taxes they often complain about. It’s obvious to everyone but Governor Inslee that cap-and-tax is the reason Washington has had the highest or next-to-highest gas prices since June – which are blowing up the budgets of working people and families, with low-income families hit hardest of all.

“As Democrats are clearly unwilling to join Republicans to reduce the cost of gas in our state, let’s at least bring housing costs down instead,” Braun said. “Take the excess proceeds from their cap-and-tax policy – meaning the money not promised for transportation – and commit those to providing property-tax exemptions and credits to renters, as Republicans had proposed during this year’s legislative session.

“Those who truly believe Washington’s tax system is regressive and are convinced that higher gas prices mean less consumption and therefore fewer emissions should jump at this. They can be true to their climate agenda while putting those carbon-pricing dollars to work making housing more affordable, especially for low-income people. It is inexcusable not to do this.”

Braun also voiced support for a new proposal from Sen. Mark Mullet, D-Issaquah, that is aimed at reducing the cap-and-tax policy’s inflation of Washington gas prices.

“Senator Mullet has put a thoughtful package of ideas on the table. It appears to respond to concerns I’ve heard and also is in line with some of what a group of lawmakers proposed to Ecology in July. I appreciate that he also is proposing tax relief, in the form of a temporary reduction in car-tab costs, and following through on the fuel-cost exemption that was promised but has not been delivered to our state’s agricultural and maritime industries.

“Like our housing-affordability proposal, his deserves serious consideration sooner rather than later from the leaders on his side of the aisle. We must do better.”

STATEMENT: Republican leaders call foul on Democrats’ late-session bid to raise property taxes

Sen. Lynda Wilson, R-17

OLYMPIA… In what amounts to the ninth inning of the 2023 legislative session, more than two-thirds of the state Senate’s majority Democrats have slid an extreme tax-increase proposal into the lineup of bills still in play.

Senate Bill 5770 would raise the limit on increases in state and local property taxes to 3% per year, without voter approval. It would replace the 1% annual cap established by Washington voters in 2001 through Initiative 747, and reenacted by a Democrat-controlled Legislature in a 2007 special session after the state Supreme Court invalidated the I-747 law.

The 20 Democrats sponsoring the new tax scheme include five of the eight Democratic senators behind SB 5618, a similar tax increase that died in the Senate local-government committee in mid-February. A similar House bill, HB 1670, has been parked in the House Rules Committee since Feb. 23.

Because Democrats include the state property tax in the bill, which affects state revenues, it is exempt from today’s cutoff for non-budget legislation. Because it was filed today, SB 5770 is also exempt from a constitutional provision that requires a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to introduce bills during the final 10 days of the session.

Sen. Lynda Wilson of Vancouver is Republican leader on the Senate Ways and Means Committee. She offered this reaction:

“Governments can always find more ways to spend the taxpayers’ money, but come on – state government already takes more from the people than it needs, and local governments can’t plead poverty either. Over the past decade the 30 largest cities in Washington and state government itself have seen their revenue grow more than 6%, and county governments are not far behind. The high rate of inflation alone is having the opposite effect on family incomes.

“A survey by the Tax Structure Work Group created by the Legislature found people dislike property taxes even more than even an income tax. I keep introducing legislation to lower property taxes for everyone by exempting the first $250,000 value of a home from the state property tax. The Democrats keep killing it. This year they came up with a ‘me too’ bill to offer property-tax rebates, then killed it also. It’s revealing that most of the sponsors of that legislation are behind this new tax bill.

“The Democrats got their capital-gains tax. Their deeply unpopular payroll tax, which was delayed for reasons we can all guess at, is back on track for collection starting in July. They killed their own Senate bill to lift the property-tax cap to 3%, and now it’s back with a text tweak that keeps it alive through the end of the session. The Democrats keep claiming Washington’s tax code is so regressive, then they support a scheme to triple the growth rate of a regressive tax. On top of that, they drop hints in the bill that the tax would go to support public safety and criminal justice… as though they’re the party of law and order. Unbelievable.”

Senate Republican Leader John Braun of Centralia made this comment:

“Reducing the cost of living is a Republican priority for 2023, This tax would significantly increase the affordability crisis in our state. On average residents of our state already pay $6,220 annually in state and local taxes. That’s in the upper third nationwide, nearly $1,000 more than Oregon and nearly $2,100 more than Idaho. A property-tax increase not only means a higher cost of living, but when we talk about the need for housing people can afford, it also affects the ability of people to continue affording the homes they already own. Enabling property taxes to go up 3% per year instead of 1% is going to be the tipping point for some homeowners.

“As much as I would like to dismiss SB 5770 as a late-session stunt, we must take it seriously. The senators sponsoring this bill include a member of the Senate Democratic leadership team, and one of the Democratic leaders on the Senate budget committee. Also, the Democrats have a history of approving big new taxes at the last minute, as our state’s banking industry learned in 2019 – the public had not even seen that tax proposal until there were 48 hours left in the session, and yet it was pushed through.

“The opening section of this bill suggests the tax would be used to help support special education. The Legislature absolutely should be supporting special education more, and I’m proud of the bipartisan work being done this year on that, especially in the Senate – but there is no way our special-education students should ever have to depend on the passage of a new tax. They’re covered under the constitutional mandate to support basic education that is the Legislature’s paramount duty. It’s wrong for the Democrats to use them to try justifying an unjustifiable tax increase.”

Legislators should reconvene and suspend gas tax, Republican leader says after seeing revenue report

OLYMPIA… As the nation’s inflation rate hit 8.5% this past week, a report from the state Economic and Revenue Forecast Council indicated state-revenue collections are running more than $255 million above what it projected in February.

Senate Republican Leader John Braun of Centralia responded by calling again on the Legislature to support tax and inflation relief for the people of Washington:

“State government’s financial picture keeps getting better while the affordability crisis keeps getting worse. If you’re younger than 40, you have never had to contend with an inflation rate this high. Higher costs for food, gas, housing and energy are predictably harder on gig-economy and hourly-wage workers, and older people with fixed incomes. For younger people looking to become first-time homeowners or start a family, it’s a real shock – and the Democrats don’t seem to have any useful answers.

“Republicans offered idea after idea during this year’s session for helping families with the rising cost of living. In spite of a 15-billion-dollar budget surplus we couldn’t get our Democratic colleagues to agree. They just poured most of those billions into making government even larger.

“Right before the Legislature adjourned in early March, the current majority said no to a Republican proposal to suspend the 49.4-cent state gas tax through the end of 2022. Fortunately, the latest revenue report is keeping that opportunity alive. If Democrats would just drop their resistance to providing inflation relief, we could easily meet in a one-day, remote special session to suspend the regressive gas tax and maybe also consider a veto override or two.

“Democrats can talk about ‘Putin price hikes’ all they want – gas prices have been increasing all year long, so much that one in our state’s own congressional delegation called for a gas-tax suspension well before the invasion of Ukraine. The new transportation package they pushed through in Olympia this year may mean more bicycle lanes, and free transit for children, but it won’t do a thing to help parents afford the gas to get to their jobs or to their kids’ soccer games. The governor supports the idea of Washington refineries helping ensure gas is available to meet the needs of families and employers; he and Democrat legislators should now join Republicans to make gas more affordable.”

STATEMENT — Republican leaders: Call special session to fix or repeal long-term care tax before tax collections begin

Governor’s delay of ‘Washington Cares’ tax won’t prevent January deductions from paychecks

OLYMPIA…In response to new information about how the governor’s delay of the long-term care tax won’t stop tax collections in January, Senate Republican Leader John Braun of Centralia and House Republican Leader J.T. Wilcox of Yelm issued this statement:

“The governor’s announcement last week that the ‘Washington Cares’ long-term care tax would be delayed led everyone to believe that the tax would not be collected from their paychecks come January. State employees received notice that only those who have already been granted an exemption to the program will not have the tax deducted. Otherwise, the tax will be collected as originally planned. How is this a delay? How has the governor helped matters? He hasn’t. The governor’s announcement changed nothing. The only thing it did was publicly acknowledge that the program is a mess.

“We need to go into a special session before the state begins collecting the tax and repeal this bill – even if it’s over the holidays, using virtual technology to meet on short notice. The program is so unpopular that more than 400,000 Washingtonians applied for an exemption and thousands of others want out but couldn’t get a private policy before the deadline. Why? Because the way the law is written drove insurance carriers to pull out of Washington.

“Under the current law, it is legally questionable if anyone who has the money deducted from their paycheck won’t receive it back – not even if they are granted an exemption. People are angry. The governor stands to make them even angrier if he fails to have the legislative branch address this before January 1.”

Braun heads bipartisan call for veto of new $133 million tax

Governor will block hastily approved tax ‘if he’s consistent’, says budget leader

OLYMPIA… A bipartisan group of high-ranking state legislators today asked Gov. Jay Inslee to veto a new $133 million tax that came out of nowhere to zoom through the Legislature just before its annual session ended April 28.

“This was bad policy to start with, and the fact that it was hustled through in little more than 48 hours makes it even less defensible. That’s not how our state constitution intends for laws to be made,” said Sen. John Braun, Senate Republican budget leader.

Joining him in the veto request are Sen. Mark Mullet, D-Issaquah, who heads the Senate committee on banking; Senate Republican Leader Mark Schoesler of Ritzville; House Republican Leader J.T. Wilcox of Yelm; and Rep. Drew Stokesbary, R-Auburn, who is Republican leader on the House budget committee.

Inslee has until May 21 to veto House Bill 2167, which would effectively double the business-and-occupation (B&O) tax on out-of-state banks; otherwise it becomes law and takes effect July 28.

In their veto-request letter the lawmakers detail how the policy in HB 2167 wasn’t made public until the final Friday afternoon of the 2019 session, yet was through the Democrat-controlled Legislature and on its way to Inslee just two days later. Along the way it bypassed both the Senate and House committees that address policies concerning banks.

They also cite Inslee’s veto of a 2017 manufacturing tax-fairness bill that had moved rapidly through the Legislature. In his veto message the governor wrote that the “tax reductions should be considered in a thoughtful, transparent process that incorporates public input and business accountability.”

“If he’s consistent, the governor will veto this tax increase for the same reason. And in doing so he’ll also protect the taxpayers from any chance of a lawsuit on the grounds that this tax is in violation of the U.S. constitution,” said Braun, R-Centralia.

“It’s as though the majority simply wanted more money to spend and said ‘let’s go after the big banks’ without giving any consideration to the legislative process envisioned by the state constitution.”

Using unexpected revenue to reduce taxes

With state tax collections and projected revenues continuing to rise (see chart), I have proposed using up to $1 billion of unexpected tax dollars coming into the state to smooth next year’s transition to Washington’s new education-funding system.

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

Creating an equitable and long-term education funding system for our state required a great deal of compromise. 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 a bipartisan agreement.

Every year our state’s chief economist issues quarterly, four-year revenue projections. My proposal would use 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 most recent quarterly forecast anticipates another $500 million coming into the state under the current tax structure (again, money beyond what was forecast in June), which would reduce the current $0.81 rate increase to less than $0.50 per $1,000 of assessed value.

With the Legislature having already passed a budget that balances and provides property tax relief for a majority of our state over the next four years, this approach would provide us with an opportunity to amply fund state government and reduce the short-term impact on working families and people with fixed incomes.

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

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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.