April 17, 2009

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Many of you are probably aware that Washington state celebrated "Tax Freedom Day" this week on April 16.  This is the day that you and I finally get to take home the money we make.  Up until this point, every dollar we've made from the beginning of the year goes to pay the local, state and federal taxes imposed upon us.

Our neighboring states have it a little bit better.  Idaho celebrated Tax Freedom Day on April 12, and Oregon's was April 9, a full week ahead of Washington!

Many of you may also have heard about, and participated in, this week's Tea Party rallies.  People from across the state joined citizens around the nation in protests against government overspending and the possibility of more taxes. The message coming from the people is quite clear: families have to make adjustments and live within their means – government should, too. The Tea Party rally at the Capitol was the largest of the year with over 5,000 people in attendance.  You'd think that with so many people letting their voices be known, the majority party in Olympia would get the message; but apparently they haven't.

Rep. Orcutt attends the Tea Party rally at the Capitol steps in Olympia.

Just one day after tax protests across the state and nation, certain members in the House of Representatives proposed five…yes FIVE…new tax and fee increases.  One of these includes a 0.3 percent increase in the state sales tax!  This proposal received a public hearing this morning and was scheduled to be voted out of committee later today.  Talk about putting tax increases on the fast track!

At a time when Washington's families struggle daily to make ends meet and our employees and businesses are dealing with near-record unemployment, I find it unconscionable that tax increases are being offered as part of the solution.

I believe that true leadership calls for difficult decisions.  And, I am convinced that we can balance our budget, educate our kids and protect our most vulnerable without raising taxes.

My House Republican colleagues and I have offered genuine solutions to our state's budget shortfall from the beginning.  We have asked to be included in the debate; we have handed over our priorities; we have very specifically shown how we can bring our state spending in line with state revenues.  However, we have not been allowed a seat at the table.  The majority party in Olympia continues to make decisions in an echo chamber where the only voices they hear are their own…and Washington families and workers will be the worse off because of it.

The biggest "good little bill" of the session...
I am very happy to report that Gov. Gregoire signed my state agency transparency bill this week.

House Bill 1475 will require all agencies with rulemaking authority to provide a link on their homepage to their rulemaking page.  This will include the text or a link to the text of any rule proposed or adopted in the last 12 months.  For any rule proposal, they will be required to provide information on the time, date and location of any public hearing on the proposed rules and to provide information on how you can submit written testimony. This is a way to let the public keep track of the various state agency rule changes and additions, some of which can have a serious impact upon select groups of people.

We often hear non-controversial legislation described as a "good little bill."  I would certainly call this legislation one of the biggest "good little bills" in recent memory.  Any day we can make state agencies more accountable to the Legislature and the public and shed light on the rules they make behind closed doors, is a good day indeed.

Your vote for President of the United States may no longer count...seriously
In a late night session this week, the House voted to proceed down a path that would change how Washington's electoral votes are distributed in a presidential election by passing Senate Bill 5599.  The debate was heated, informative, and displayed new arguments and strategies to counter an idea that is gaining momentum across the nation.

The issue is commonly referred to as the National Popular vote.  Several states have already passed similar legislation to enter into a compact that says the President should be elected by a popular vote of national voters.  In essence, because of the high populations of a few states, candidates would only need to convince voters in a few states like Texas, New York and California to vote for them in order to become President of the United States.

This is a huge fundamental change in how our Founding Fathers set up this country.  The Electoral College, while sometimes difficult to understand, was set up as a way to protect smaller states from the whims of a handful of high-population states. With this bill, we're giving away our voice and our votes to other states.  This is fundamentally wrong. However, the idea is gaining steam and our elected officials failed to stand up for state's rights.

Protecting taxpayers...
We're entering the last week of the 2009 session which means a lot of late nights. Last night, even though it was approaching midnight, I began my defense of constituents' right to vote on any mass transit proposal.  That debate took me well past midnight – till nearly 1:00 a.m. - attempting to amend and defeat Senate Bill 5540 which would allow the creation of special taxing districts called High Capacity Transportation Corridor Areas (HCTCA).

This bill could allow a new taxing district to be created in Clark County to include almost all the retail in the area.  If folks want to buy anything at all they are going to have to pay the increase in taxes levied by the special taxing district, but most of them won't have a say in that tax.  Many of our citizens are going to be saddled with a tax that they had no opportunity to vote on.

I offered several amendments to the bill to try and protect taxpayers.  At one point, one of the other House members came up to me and said, "Mercy, Ed, mercy! The hour is late!"  Soon after, I commented on one amendment about my purpose in offering it saying, "What about the taxpayers? There were over 5,000 people here at the Capitol steps yesterday crying out for mercy, saying 'Have mercy on us!'  What about them?  If you weren't running this bill, I wouldn't have to run these amendments to try and protect them!"

While only one of my amendments passed, no one else belittled my efforts on behalf of the taxpayers for the rest of the debate!

During these late nights that stretch into the early mornings, we have a lot of fast-paced action and then a little bit of down time here and there as the majority party decides what bills to run next.  I'm working during this time to respond to your e-mails and letters, so if you haven't heard back from me yet, please know that a response is forthcoming.

Thank you for placing your trust in me to represent you in Olympia.  It is an honor to serve the citizens of the 18th District.


Sincerely,


Ed Orcutt
State Representative, 18th District

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