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House Democrats slam the
door on property tax relief this year
A motion by House
Republicans to revive a property tax relief proposal was rejected today
under a ruling by the Speaker of the House. A motion to vote on
House Bill 2403, which would reinstate a voter-approved property tax
relief measure, was ruled out of order by the House Speaker. The ruling
disappointed Republican
Rep. Gary Alexander and Richard DeBolt,
who were operating on the word of the Democrat chairman of the House
Finance Committee who stated publicly that the measure could be taken up
anytime before the end of the 2007 session on April 22.
“The actions of our Democrat colleagues are not consistent with what
many of them have been telling the citizens of our state about the need
for tax relief,’ said DeBolt, R-Chehalis, who serves as House
Republican Leader. “If you believe what they’ve been saying about
property taxes, this should have been a slam dunk. Instead they defeated
a motion to move the bill out of committee last month and denied our
motion to take the measure up on the floor today.
“It’s not just about holding the majority party to its word. Washington
homeowners need relief from rising property taxes that threaten the
affordability of homeownership. Adopting the property tax relief that
voters have demanded is the right thing to do,” DeBolt said.
Alexander and DeBolt said providing property tax relief has been
a top priority for Republicans in the 2007 legislative session. HB
2403 would reinstate the provisions of Initiative 747, a ballot
measure approved by voters that would limit regular annual property tax
increases to 1 percent. The initiative was overturned by a court
decision that is currently under appeal.
“We could uphold the voters’ demand for property tax relief and
eliminate the need to continue a costly court battle by simply passing
this bill,” said Alexander, R-Olympia, who is the lead budget negotiator
for House Republicans. “We have a sizable surplus in the state general
fund. If the Legislature exercised just a little spending discipline, we
could afford to allow taxpayers to keep more of their own money and
prevent low-income families from being taxed out of their homes. Without
this tax relief, it appears the majority party is prepared to spend all
but a small fraction of the excess tax money in reserve. It’s getting
late in the session, but Republicans will continue to fight for tax
relief and against the excessive spending we’ve seen in the Democrat
budget proposals that are on the table.”
House Republicans unveiled a comprehensive tax relief measure earlier
this year, which included the 1 percent cap on property tax growth and a
$400 rebate to all Washington property owners. The plan also included an
agriculture tax relief package and cuts in unemployment insurance and
workers compensation premiums for employees and employers. None of the
tax relief proposals has come to the floor for a vote.
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