Bill addresses farm fuel exemption

When the Democrat-led Legislature passed the Climate Commitment Act (other opponents and I prefer to call it “cap-and-tax”) a few years ago, one of the promises made by Democrats was that the state’s agriculture, shipping and aviation industries would be exempt from the fuel tax created under the law. However, as farmers in the 9th District can tell you, that promise has not been kept.

Despite numerous meetings and repeated requests by me and other Eastern Washington legislators for the state Department of Ecology to implement the promised exemption from this costly fuel surcharge, DOE failed to take meaningful steps to make that exemption a reality. Instead, about the only thing that DOE officials did was to hold a few meetings with some stakeholders that really accomplished nothing.

Washington’s agriculture industry has a right to feel betrayed by Olympia on this. It was inexcusable and unacceptable for the Inslee administration to just give lip service to the promised fuel tax exemption instead of making it happen.

In recent years, the bills introduced to fix this problem went nowhere. This year might be different.

New Gov. Ferguson said early this session that he supported implementing the fuel tax exemption and he would work with legislators to do so. We’ll see if the new governor keeps his word.

It is encouraging to see the House of Representatives last week pass House Bill 1912, which tries to fix this problem. The bill is prime-sponsored by 13th District Representative Tom Dent of Moses Lake.

According to Dent, House Bill 1912 “encourages fuel retailers to sell exempt fuel at the point of sale, allowing farmers to buy it without the surcharge. It also requires the Department of Ecology to map exempt fuel locations across the state using voluntary information from fuel sellers, ensuring farmers know where to purchase qualifying fuel.”

The bipartisan bill, which is my “good bill of the week,” is now before the Senate Environment, Energy and Technology Committee. It was scheduled to get a hearing Tuesday, March 25.

Bad bills

Although we knew it was coming, it’s still disappointing to see Senate Democrats resort to new or higher taxes once again to address the state budget.

The Senate Ds sent out a news release touting their tax-hike package, which aims to help fund their operating budget proposal that will be released early next week. Their tax proposals collectively are my Bad Bills of the Week.

Here they are:

Removing the cap on employer payroll taxes — Would impose a 5% tax on large employers on the amount of payroll expenses above the Social Security threshold — currently $176,100 per year. This tax would impact nearly 5,300 companies and raise about $2.3 billion per year once fully implemented.

Raising property tax growth limit — Would raise the property tax growth limit for the state’s common schools levy and for cities and counties, as well as special purpose districts, from the current 1% cap to the combined rate of population growth plus inflation. This proposal is expected to take $779 million from property owners over the next four years.

Repealing tax exemptions — By repealing 20 tax exemptions, it would result in a tax hit of just over $1 billion over a four-year period.

Assuming Senate Democrats pass these tax hikes and House Democrats approve their own tax-increase package, the big question will be whether Gov. Ferguson holds his ground and refuses to sign an operating budget that includes tax hikes, especially to the degree that legislative Democrats want.

This is why some Olympia observers think a special session might happen over what is basically a game of political chicken.

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