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Hinkle takes stand against
higher taxes, signs taxpayer pledge
'Tax
increases should be off the table, period!' says Hinkle
Rep.
Bill Hinkle, R-Cle Elum, announced today that he has signed
the Americans for Tax Reform's
State Taxpayer Protection Pledge.
Hinkle, currently one of only eight Washington State
House members to sign the pledge, said it was imperative to make a
commitment to fight against taxes now while plans are being made to
address the state's billion dollar shortfall next session.
"Tax increases should be off the table, period!" said Hinkle.
"We have a governor who has a history of raising taxes and who is once
again leaning in that direction. I think it is disingenuous to
taxpayers for her to ask state agencies to prepare for another round of
program cuts, while behind the scenes she seems to be embracing tax
increases. This is backdoor politics at its worst. Why would
an agency director come forward with a feasible plan when they know the
governor is just going to let taxpayers pay the bill?"
Hinkle said momentum for some sort of tax package may
be gaining steam as Legislators prepare to address the state's budget
shortfall, currently around $1.2 billion. Earlier this week, in a
blog post by Olympia reporter Austin Jenkins, Gregoire's new
chief of staff Jay Manning made comments to suggest the administration
is leaning towards tax increases to help balance state spending.
"When the Legislature closed a $9 billion budget hole this past session
largely with one-time money,
many of us were concerned that we'd eventually see another billion dollar
deficit on the horizon," Hinkle said.
"And here we are, back at it again. Only this time, without the
federal government's bailout money, taxpayers are at risk of losing more
of their hard-earned dollars.
"A colleague of mine in the Legislature said it best: 'You can't take
more money from people who have less.' And
that's exactly where people are at now," Hinkle
continued. "I know folks in my district are struggling. Jobs
are scarce, take home pay isn't what it was a few years ago. And
now, the large hand of government wants to come take more? It's not
right.
"We need to reprioritize state government and focus our efforts on
getting people back to work," Hinkle said. "We
need a smaller, more nimble, less intrusive, more efficient, less
cumbersome state government. We have an opportunity in front of us
to change the way this state delivers services. But until we take
tax increases off the table, our efforts will lack the credibility
needed to gain the public's support."
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For more information, contact:
Brendon Wold, Senior
Information Officer:
(509) 921-2356
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