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Senate Bill 6900: An ill-conceived measure to
separate you from your money
By Rep. Mike
Armstrong
Mark Twain's observation
was correct when he said, "No man's life, liberty, or property are safe
while the Legislature is in session."
Although the Legislature
is scheduled to adjourn March 13, the final days of the session are when
citizens really have to hold on tight to their wallets. That's because
the state supplemental budgets are being finalized, along with ways to
pay for them.
In Olympia, there's no end
to imaginative ways to try to separate you from your money. Lawmakers
never like to talk about raising taxes. Instead, it's common to see
bills that seek to increase revenue through "fees" which, in reality, is
a softer way to say tax increases.
If you're ever curious
about taxes and fees proposed by the Legislature, the Office of
Financial Management (OFM) is now required under Initiative 960 to
determine the 10-year cost to taxpayers of any proposed legislation that
would raise taxes, impose new fees, or increase current fees. You can
sign up for OFM's tax and fee e-mail notifications at:
http://www.ofm.wa.gov/tax/default.asp. This session, more than 200
new tax and fee proposal notifications have been issued.
Fortunately in an election
year, most of these tax and fee increase proposals frequently die, as
they should. However, as the majority party promotes its popular theme,
"One Washington," frequently the most outrageous tax-increase proposals
come from its own Seattle-area lawmakers who apparently have no clue how
other people live, work and raise their families outside of King County.
A prime example is Senate
Bill 6900. Sponsored by four Democrat legislators from King County and
one from Vancouver, this measure would have imposed a "vehicle engine
displacement and emissions fee" ranging from $70 for a 2-liter engine to
$600 for engines of 8 liters or more. OFM estimates the projected cost
to taxpayers could be as high as $1.7 billion over five years --
potentially devastating to middle- and lower-income folks in North
Central Washington.
You have to wonder which
sand hole these legislators had their heads stuck in when taxpayers
overwhelmingly voted in 1999 to replace the state's motor vehicle excise
tax with a $30 car tab fee through Initiative 695. Although the state
Supreme Court overturned the initiative, it was Republican legislative
leaders from Wenatchee who pushed to make the $30 car tabs permanent.
Since then, the Legislature has discovered how to further extract more
than $30 from taxpayers' wallets through additional vehicle weight and
licensing fees.
Fortunately, the Senate
Transportation Committee chair has said SB 6900 was dead on arrival.
However, it has sparked an outrage from taxpayers across the state. I've
had more e-mails, letters and telephone calls on this bill than nearly
any other issue this session. Apparently, so has the committee chair. In
her words, "I've never had so many people asking me to kill a bill
that's already dead."
It is testament to the
fact that when citizens pay attention to the legislative process, they
can make a difference. Although the bill did not come to the House for
consideration, it was a no-brainer to me. I would have happily voted to
kill this bill. That said, I'm glad it died long before it had an
opportunity to reach the House.
Although there are
infinite groups wanting more of your tax money, I believe we must
continue reminding the Seattle-Olympia mindset that every dollar taken
by government is a dollar a taxpayer earned first. It's why we need to
keep an ever-vigilant eye on the tax bills moving through Olympia, and
help those representing the urban Central Puget Sound areas to
understand that for "One Washington" to exist, they must consider how
their proposals would affect Eastern Washington citizens.
I'm proud to stand up at
the state Capitol and defend taxpayers. I encourage you to keep
communicating on these issues and, with your support, I'll continue
working to ensure you keep more of your own hard-earned tax dollars.
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Editor's note: Rep. Mike
Armstrong, R-Wenatchee, serves the 12th Legislative District and is
ranking member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on General
Government and Audit Review.
For more information, contact:
John
Sattgast, Public Information Officer: (360) 786-7257
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