I've decided to group the bad bills together. This post's theme is taking our money. See my previous post for how to share your comments on a bill.
The state is facing a $12 billion shortfall over the next few years. A "shortfall" is simply a difference between what the state is bringing in versus what it's on pace to spend. You might have noticed a Superbowl ad by Enterprise Washington about the simple math on this. You can read more here. As a result of all this, there's going to be several attempts at raising our taxes. I'm just posting a few of them here, because well, I have a full time job and a family who deserve my time.
- House Bill 1334 - modifying the annual regular property tax revenue growth limit. AKA make it easier to raise your property taxes. If you own a house, or your grandma owns a house, this hits "home."
- from the Bill Report, written by nonpartisan staff: "Changes the 101 percent revenue growth limit for state and local property taxes to 100 percent plus population change and inflation, with a capped limit of 103 percent."
What I'm telling my legislators: Washington state has a spending problem. You got drunk on COVID dollars, just as you did on federal stimulus awhile ago. Stop promising things on short-term dollars. Increasing property taxes hits the middle class the hardest, not to mention seniors on fixed incomes. You have enough of our money to cover what's important, do your job and get creative. When I get a bonus, I don't go out and buy a car and then act shocked when the money runs out. Please set a better example to students in this state on how budgeting and economics works.
- House Bill 1356 - "concerning K-12 funding." This is a favorite of Democrats, make it "about the children" when it's really "get more money in the coffers."
- Increases the threshold for levies that a school district can raise. So much for equitable funding across the state. A court case from awhile ago, called McCleary, forced the state to increase % of state spending on education. The idea was for school districts to not rely on tax levies, because it favors districts with more wealthy households.
- Does the same thing as the bill above with the property tax limit! So they're really set on making that happen.
What I'm telling my legislators: Did we learn nothing from the McCleary court case? Why are we punting the duty of the state to equally fund education across the state, to local levies, where we know this hurts poorer school districts. If you are for the middle class and helping poor students be successful, we must rightly fund education at the state level and not force districts to rely on local levies. Further, don't put property tax increases on me. Ask school districts to get better results first before we give them more funding. Our students deserve better.
- House Bill 1032 - "concerning school district elections."
- Allows school districts to issue bonds for capital purposes (i.e. buildings, technology, etc), levy taxes on us to make payments on those bonds, and exceeds the current debt limit with a simple majority (50.1%) of voters. (Right now the requirement is a vote of 60%)
- Would require a constitutional amendment to Washington's constitution, so we would see this on our ballots if it passes the Legislature. Expect lots of sad ads about kids in moldy buildings who can't learn because their buildings are falling down around them.
What I'm telling my legislators: Vote no on this bill. This again punts the state's responsibility on to the school districts, and makes it easier to raise my taxes. We've paid enough, there's no need to put this on the ballot, because there is no appetite for it, even in this state.
- House Bill 1921 - establishing new sources of transportation revenue based on motor vehicle use of public roadways.
- Allows for a "road usage licensing fee" that imposes a fee based on how many miles you drive. At first, this might sound logical, and the bill's authors even call it more "fair and equitable." At face value, it may seem so. But it's not fair or equitable. First, think about families who can't afford to live in big cities nor can they find good work in the country - they commute. So if you're a commuter, you're carrying a bigger burden here. Want to go on a road trip with your family, make some memories and see our beautiful state? You might think twice. And no, electric vehicles aren't exempt, and in fact, they get charged first in the phased in approach.
- Definitely privacy concerns about the government collecting data on how many miles you traveled - cause we really trust the government to not track where we go and to not use this against us if we're accused of a crime? The bill says they'll protect privacy and civil liberties, but sorry, I've read enough news and have a healthy suspicion of how the government uses my information.
- This bill is long and sorry I just couldn't get through it all!
- This is scheduled for public hearing on Feb. 13 at 4pm - if you read this before then, you can submit written testimony that goes on record and goes to all committee members, not just your legislators.
What I'm telling my legislators: This is not fair or equitable for working families, especially the working poor who must commute to work every day, since they can't afford to live in a city and may have a hard time finding work where they live. No offense, but I don't trust the government with tracking where my vehicle goes. Come up with another way to fund transportation needs, don't hurt commuting families.
