Legislative Commentary

With a few exceptions the news from the Senate’s fifth week of work was still being made at the committee level, where bills continue to receive public hearings and what’s called “executive action” – meaning a committee decides whether to recommend passage of a measure.

The week began on a positive note with a unanimous Senate vote for our innovative, early-action school construction bill. I previously mentioned Senate Bill 5445; it would make a $475 million appropriation to the state school-construction account months ahead of the usual schedule, enough to cover the anticipated size of school-district requests for the next two years plus $10 million for school-security improvements. This is good for jobs and education and also makes sense from a budgeting standpoint; all are key priorities for our Majority Coalition Caucus.

I had another meeting with Gov. Inslee last week; also coming by to visit from right here on the Capitol campus were Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, the president of the Senate, and the state Supreme Court’s chief justice, Justice Barbara Madsen. Guests from the 9th District (or near enough) included Pullman School District leaders; former Sen. Lisa Brown, now leader of WSU-Spokane; officials from Rockford, Kahlotus, Pasco, Pullman and Rosalia; a Pasco-area business leader; 9th District potato growers (last Tuesday was the always-popular “Potato Day” at the Capitol); representatives from the Spokane Library District, the Snake River Salmon Recovery Board in Dayton, and the Pullman-based Palouse Industries, which serves people with disabilities; and many others.

Speaking of Pullman, I’m looking forward to Coug Day at the Capitol, which for the students actually stretches across three days – Sunday to Tuesday. Monday was a school holiday but a workday for the Legislature, so it’s a great time for students to come and meet with their lawmakers.

Senate minority tax wish-list hits $38 billion over 10 years

Let’s see: almost 64 percent of those voting statewide in November said “yes” to Initiative 1185, which extends by another two years the requirement of a two-thirds legislative vote to approve tax increases. I-1185 won a majority of votes in each of our state’s 39 counties, and passed in 44 of the state’s 49 legislative districts (including the 9th).

That sounds like a pretty strong no-new taxes message, yet some of our colleagues in the Senate minority have proposed tax increases that over 10 years would amount to $38 billion. In the spirit of bipartisanship the Majority Coalition Caucus allowed the sponsors of these bills to make their case in front of me and the rest of the Senate Ways and Means Committee at a public hearing last Thursday:


Senate Bill 5166, which would create a state income tax (an idea voters have rejected many times before) to the tune of more than $32 billion in the next 10 years;


Senate Bill 5039, which would amount to almost $5 billion in the next decade by extending two taxes that are set to expire this year (sales tax on beer, business and occupation tax on services) plus a new excise tax on gasoline distribution;


Senate Bill 5042, which would increase the business and occupation tax on our state’s job creators (remember, they’re taxed on their gross earnings, not net earnings – no other state does this), equal to more than $400 million in the next 10 years; 


Senate Bill 5248, which would be a $134 million (over 10 years) tax on plastic shopping bags; and


Senate Bill 5043, which would pare the property-tax exemption for intangibles. The cost to taxpayers hasn’t been calculated for 2013; it was estimated in 2011 that taxpayers saved $12.8 billion related to the exemption.

During the hearing we heard testimony from the non-partisan Washington Policy Center regarding the anticipated effect of adopting all five bills: the state would lose nearly 70,000 jobs by 2016 (that number being the net difference between private-sector jobs lost and public-sector jobs gained).

Our coalition believes Olympia should and can live within its means. We see reforming state government as a way to free up revenue and make it available for more important uses. These bills reveal a lot about the direction the minority would have gone if it were still in charge of the Senate. They also help make a stronger case for Senate Joint Resolution 8200, which would place the I-1185 tax-approval threshold into our state constitution (it received a committee hearing this past week).

Create jobs, protect environment by refocusing cleanup dollars

Legislation that would help encourage jobs while protecting the environment was approved by the Senate environment committee. Senate Bill 5296 would refocus the spending of revenue collected through the Model Toxics Control Act.

The MTCA law was created by a voter initiative in 1988. It imposes a “hazardous substance tax,” primarily on petroleum products. However, the law’s intent has been compromised by the channeling of funding to things that are far-removed from toxic cleanup. In the current two-year budget cycle, revenue from the hazardous-substance tax is expected to reach $352 million. The account has been a frequent target of diversions, with $233 million shifted to the general fund since 2009 alone.

Putting the focus back on renewing toxic sites will improve the environment and put people to work on the 1,900 sites around the state awaiting remediation.

Change in energy policy would help families, small-business owners

Electricity is among the primary costs of doing business and maintaining a household; higher power bills mean less money in the pockets of hard-working families and small-business owners, which keeps a lid on our state’s economic recovery.

Washington has long enjoyed access to relatively cheap hydropower from dams on the Columbia and other rivers. Practically speaking, hydropower is renewable – but not in the eyes of the law created by Initiative 937 in 2006.

Contrary to expectations, Washington’s population and demand for power did not continue to increase at 2006 rates. The economic recession cut into demand, meaning utilities must now buy energy they don’t need to satisfy the renewable requirement in the law. It also means Washington utilities are forced to ship low-cost, clean hydropower to other states then turn around and buy more expensive power from those same states, a consequence that is already costing Washington consumers millions of dollars and is just going to get more expensive.

Senate Bill 5648 would begin to address this concern; it has solid bipartisan support and received a public hearing this week before the Senate energy committee.

Bill would shield employers outside Seattle from paying city-mandated benefit

Let’s say Bob owns a business in Pasco, and has a driver who delivers products to shops in Seattle on Tuesdays. Seattle’s sick-leave law, which took effect this past fall, requires Bob to track the number of hours his employee spends in Seattle on Tuesdays; his employee accrues sick leave based on that time. If that employee gets sick on Tuesday and Wednesday, he or she is only eligible for sick time on Tuesday, based on the number of hours he spends driving through Seattle.

Imagine what a costly headache it is for any Washington employer who does business in Seattle to comply with this law. That’s why I’m co-sponsoring Senate Bill 5726, which would scale back Seattle’s law by prohibiting cities from requiring sick leave for employers based outside the city.