Operating Budget

January 13, 2024

Session gets under way, massive tax hike already being proposed

When I and other budget leaders met with news reporters to preview our session I spoke about the need to be conservative about appropriating the billions of dollars collectively generated by the capital-gains income tax, the long-term care payroll tax and the cap-and-trade law, because those sources would go away...
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December 22, 2023

E-News: Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Hello Friends and Neighbors, You’re probably busy with holiday-related things so I’ll make this brief. The next legislative session begins two weeks from Christmas Day – that’s Monday, January 8. To repeat the invitation made in my previous e-newsletter, I’d like to hear any ideas you have for legislation. After...
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December 13, 2023

Governor’s spending proposal continues worrisome trends, says Republican budget chief

OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay Inslee’s new supplemental budget proposal continues the same worrisome trends of the decade he has been in office, said Sen. Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver, ranking Republican on the Senate Ways and Means Committee. “The good news is that the governor isn’t proposing any new taxes,” Wilson said....
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November 22, 2023

E-Newsletter: Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

November 23, 2023 Hello Friends and Neighbors, While the next legislative session won’t begin until January 8, the prep work is already under way. Earlier this month several members of our Clark County legislative delegation visited the Fort Vancouver clinic operated by Fresenius Medical Care, where we talked with staff and...
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November 20, 2023

NEWS: Year’s final revenue forecast should end talk of new taxes

OLYMPIA… Sen. Lynda Wilson is viewing 2023’s final quarterly forecast of state-government revenue as yet another reason to take a firm line against tax increases in 2024. “There’s no budget deficit on the horizon. It was confirmed today that government has more than enough revenue to maintain services and programs....
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September 26, 2023

STATEMENT: Senate budget leader sees mixed signals in new state revenue forecast

VANCOUVER… While the state revenue forecast adopted today keeps government’s revenue picture comfortably on the plus side, Sen. Lynda Wilson is keeping an eye on a growth projection that is noticeably lower than any time outside of the Great Recession earlier this century. Wilson, R-Vancouver, is Senate Republican budget leader...
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July 15, 2023

E-News: Nation’s highest gas prices, new tax on workers make WA affordability crisis worse

July 15, 2023 Hello Friends and Neighbors, Like many of you, my husband Tracy and I have friends and family in other states, which is why we were in the Idaho panhandle for the Fourth of July. Having seen gas prices climb steadily in our state all year long, it...
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June 27, 2023

STATEMENT: State’s latest revenue forecast overshadowed by affordability concerns, says budget leader

VANCOUVER… The budget leader for Senate Republicans says today’s positive news about state revenue growth is offset by the continued rise in Washington gas prices and the added pain many Washington workers are about to feel from the state’s new payroll tax. Sen. Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver, is chair of the...
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April 27, 2023

E-News: 2023 session concludes with major public-safety issue unresolved

  Part of the job of Senate Republican budget leader is standing in the Senate chamber to speak about whether to vote for or against the budget being debated. That’s what is happening in this photo from Sunday afternoon, hours before this year’s regular legislative session ended. April 27, 2023...
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April 17, 2023

E-News: Who thinks property taxes are too low? A majority of Democratic senators…

  With Senate Republican Caucus Chair Judy Warnick of Moses Lake during a break in voting this past week. April 17, 2023 Hello Friends and Neighbors, Tomorrow is “tax day” in America – as April 15 fell on a weekend and today is a holiday in Washington, D.C. – and...
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