Inslee leaving us with more tax plans

When Jay Inslee first successfully ran for governor in 2012, he told Washington voters – and here’s the quote – he “would veto anything that heads the wrong direction, and the wrong direction is new taxes in the state of Washington.”

Once Inslee took office, his pledge to not raise taxes was quickly broken. In fact, our outgoing guv has routinely called for tax hikes of one type or another. For years, I’ve said Inslee “never met a tax increase he didn’t like.”

Now, with his final term as governor ending in less than a month, Inslee this week dropped one more tax bomb on Washingtonians as he released his final state operating budget proposal.

Inslee’s last budget plan, which is really nothing more than a suggestion since he is a lame-duck governor, calls for $13 billion in new taxes over the four years in the state’s budget outlook. He wants a “wealth tax” and to also slap a higher tax on employers.

I’m sure Inslee and the other Democrats who have supported a wealth tax in the past think it has a sort of Robin Hood appeal.

The difference is, Robin Hood gave to the poor; any wealth-tax proposal we’ve seen from Democrats would simply enrich government. It would do nothing to provide tax relief for hardworking Washington families.

As for increasing the business-and-occupation tax: when the cost of doing business goes up, consumers ultimately feel it too. We know that most recently from how Washington’s cap-and-tax law, the so-called Climate Commitment Act, has caused gas prices in this state to shoot much higher than those of our neighboring states to the east and south.

The state gas tax is already 49.4 cents per gallon. Raising it further would hit state families and employers even more. The state really needs to find an additional revenue source to pay for projects.

A new proposal introduced by one of my colleagues, 14th District Sen. Curtis King of Yakima, is a good.

The state general fund receives the vast majority of the tax money collected on vehicle sales. The percentage of vehicle-sales taxes devoted to the state transportation budget is now an almost-invisible 0.03%.

King’s measure, Senate Bill 5026, would raise the percentage devoted to transportation by 16.66% every year until it reaches 100% in 2031.

— Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, represents the 9th Legislative District. Email him at Mark. Schoesler@leg.wa.gov.