Restoring trust in state government in 2021

It has been 286 days since Governor Inslee first declared a statewide emergency relating to COVID-19. Since that time, the Governor has continued to extend emergency declarations and issued various economic restrictions.

Despite repeated bipartisan calls for the legislature to be included in these decisions, the Governor refused to call a special legislative

session in 2020. In contrast, Democratic Governors in Oregon, California, Nevada and Colorado (the members of the Western States COVID

pact with Washington) all called special sessions in 2020 to allow lawmakers to respond to the emergency.

By freezing out lawmakers, the Governor solely made decisions relating to a state emergency for nearly 10 months without the involvement of the

legislative branch of government.

In contrast, other states give the legislature more oversight over emergency actions taken by the executive branch. For example, in Wisconsin: “A state of emergency shall not exceed 60 days, unless the state of emergency is extended by joint resolution of the legislature.”

Going a step further, Minnesota requires its Governor to call a special session if a “peace-time” emergency lasts longer than 30 days so

lawmakers can respond.

When our legislature finally meets this month, it should amend state law to add similar requirements to involve the legislative branch, the people’s representatives, in emergency decision making if a crisis continues to exist.

It makes sense to provide the Governor the ability to respond swiftly to an emergency for a limited period of time. Nearly a year of power to set

state policies without the involvement of the people’s representatives, however, is not the way our government is supposed to work.

Had the legislature been allowed to meet in response to this ongoing emergency it is possible lawmakers may have enacted the exact policies

the Governor has imposed. This would have occurred, however, with the input of our 147 legislators from across the state following a public

process, allowing the perfection of policies through a collaborative weighing of all the options, alternatives and tradeoffs.

One person should not have indefinite power to make decisions affecting every aspect of our lives, especially orders that caused deep emotional

pain, soaring unemployment, shuttered schools, cut family incomes and closed tens of thousands of businesses, many permanently.

This is precisely why the people’s legislative branch of government exists: to deliberate and provide guidance to the executive branch on

what policies should be in place and how to implement them.

Along with emergency powers reform it is time for our lawmakers to stop playing income tax games.

Despite the fact state revenues are forecasted to increase 10.7% during this biennia and 7.2% for 2021-23 (showing continued growth every year),

bills are being drafted to impose a statewide “employer compensation tax.”

If this type of tax sounds familiar it is because it is modeled after the recently adopted Seattle “Payroll Expense Tax.” Interestingly, that Seattle tax is currently facing a lawsuit.

The Seattle Chamber of Commerce said this about its lawsuit: “More than 210 stores and businesses have permanently closed in Seattle since the start of the pandemic, along with tens of thousands of jobs. City budget projections warned that a payroll tax would ‘add to business costs, possibly slow down the employment recovery, and make Seattle less attractive relative to other cities in the region.’

This economic hardship statement is also true about efforts to impose this Seattle-styled compensation tax across the state.

Along with this new tax proposal, we are also hearing that the perennial efforts to circumvent the state’s constitutional prohibition against graduated income taxes with a capital gains income tax will also be on the table during the 2021 legislative session.

As a reminder, here is what the federal Internal Revenue Service (IRS) says about capital gains income taxes: “You ask whether tax on capital gains is considered an excise tax or an income tax? It is an income tax. More specifically, capital gains are treated as income under the tax code and taxed as such.”

Thanks to public records we know the goal behind the capital gains income tax effort is to set up a lawsuit in hopes of imposing a graduated income tax without a constitutional amendment. The voters have already rejected 6 constitutional amendments to allow a graduated income tax (10 straight income tax ballot measure rejections overall).

As for fiscal context, Washington’s current 2019-21 state budget is $53.3 billion. This level of spending is $8.6 billion, or 19% higher, than the 2017-19 budget. With state revenues continuing to grow and employers and individuals attempting to recover from ongoing government-imposed COVID-19 economic restrictions, lawmakers should finally put to rest their creative efforts to circumvent the state’s constitutional prohibition on graduated income taxes.

Along with income tax honesty, lawmakers should also adopt much needed emergency powers reform to help end the possibility of a repeat of 2020’s one-man rule while freezing out the people’s legislative branch of government.

It’s a brand-new year. Let’s hope lawmakers govern as such and turn the page with prejudice on 2020.

– Jason Mercier is the Government Reform director for Washington Policy Center, a non-profit research organization with offices in Tri-Cities, Spokane, Seattle and Olympia. Online at http://www.washingtonpolicy.org.