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...

  March 31, 2023 Hello Friends and Neighbors, For the second Friday in a row, the Senate Ways and Means Committee is working the late shift. A week ago we were handling bills related to the Senate budget proposal. This time it’s because of the 2023 session calendar: Wednesday was...

OLYMPIA… Sen. Lynda Wilson of Vancouver, budget leader for Senate Republicans, offered this reaction to the state Supreme Court’s ruling today that the tax on capital-gains income adopted by Democratic legislators in 2021 is constitutional. The 7-2 decision overturns a lower-court ruling issued in March 2022 by a Douglas County...

OLYMPIA… Key Senate Republicans say there is much to appreciate about the 2023-25 operating-budget proposed by the state Senate majority today, starting with a lack of new taxes and a much lower spending increase than in recent years – and how it responds to Republican concerns, especially regarding K-12 education....

March 17, 2023 Hello Friends and Neighbors, There aren’t many things the Legislature must do, but in odd-numbered years like this, approving new budgets is one of them. There are three state budgets: operating, capital and transportation. They cover a two-year period that begins July 1 in odd-numbered years. The...

[[VIEW_THIS]]  Jan. 20, 2023 Hello Friends and Neighbors, Week two of the legislative session ended today. Our work so far is happening almost exclusively at the committee level, and mostly in the form of public hearings on bills. That’s where we hear public testimony, which is typically for or against...

VANCOUVER… The budget leader for Washington’s Senate Republicans said the 2023-25 operating budget proposal made public today by Gov. Jay Inslee fails to put priority on issues that affect Washington families most. Sen. Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver, offered this assessment of the $70.4 billion proposal, which will be submitted to the...

OLYMPIA… Sen. Lynda Wilson, Republican budget leader, says a projected slowing of state revenue growth combined with record government spending means little chance for inflation relief in 2023 and the possibility of a deficit for the next state budget cycle. The final revenue forecast for 2022 shows an increase of...

VANCOUVER… The state Senate’s Republican budget leader questions why state government’s tax collector is continuing to work on a rule for implementing the new state income tax struck down by a Douglas County judge eight months ago. “I can understand why the Democrat legislators who approved the state income tax...

Hello Friends and Neighbors, I hope the arrival of fall finds you and your loved ones doing alright – or at least getting by. The pandemic and soaring price inflation have been a real one-two punch to families everywhere, especially here in Washington. While other states are providing tax relief...