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House passes bill to wipe
out spending limit and
pave the way for higher taxes
Tenth District lawmakers
today said the passage of Senate Bill 6078 would abandon the state’s
spending limit and take taxpayers back to the unsuccessful
“boom-and-bust” budgeting practices of the past.
“The language in
Initiative 601 forced the Legislature to run the budget process like
businesses and families in Washington must do. It required the state to
live within its means,” said Rep. Chris Strow, R-Clinton. “Families and
businesses can’t increase their budgets through taxation like government
can, but this bill has cleared the way for businesses and families in
our state to fill in the gap caused by undisciplined budgeting practices
with higher taxes.”
Senate Bill 6078 would
suspend voter approved law requiring a two-thirds vote of the House and
Senate to raise taxes. It would allow tax hikes to be enacted by a
simple majority vote. The bill also would change the way the spending
limit is calculated to provide billions in additional spending capacity
in future budgets.
“When the people voted to enact Initiative 601 their message was clear.
Washington citizens said they wanted the Legislature to prioritize its
spending and make disciplined budgeting decisions,” said
Rep. Barbara Bailey, R-Oak Harbor. “It has been effective in creating a more
efficient state government. We should be strengthening Initiative 601
not weakening it.”
Strow and Bailey stressed the initiative has been an effective tool in
control the growth in government spending, even during periods of strong
economic growth. The state operating budget grew an average of 17.3
percent in the four biennial budgets prior to the passage of I-601. In
the four biennia following voter approval of I-601 the budget grew an
average of 8.5 percent.
It took two votes to adopt
SB 6078. The bill failed on a 49-47 vote, then one of the six Democrats
who voted on the prevailing side called for a revote, claiming she had
pressed the wrong button. In the end, the bill passed by a vote of 50-43
and now goes back to the Senate for concurrence.
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For more information, contact:
John
Handy, Assistant Director: (360) 786-5758
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