During the special session, both chambers approved a Joint Resolution asking Congress to pass the Main Street Fairness Act, which would require Internet retailers to collect sales tax from their customers, just like brick-and-mortar stores do, and remit those taxes to the appropriate states.

Could be worth hundreds of millions a year for Washington, so it’s nothing to scoff at. But isn’t there something odd about a Legislature, itself divided on taxes, asking a paralyzed Congress to do something about them?
  

OLYMPIA — State Sen. Paull Shin, D-Edmonds, is doubling down on Gov. Chris Gregoire's proposal to raise the state sales tax by a half-cent for three years to help rescue state programs from the chopping block.

Shin introduced a bill to raise the sales tax by 1 percent, or one penny on each dollar spent, from June 1, 2012 to June 30, 2015. That would raise an estimated $1 billion to be applied to the gap between scheduled state spending and projected state revenues currently estimated at $1.4 billion. He has two other Democrats in the Senate as co-sponsors.

Also on the tax front, a group of Republican senators have a joint resolution that would make all new tax increases expire after five years.

The Supercommittee charged cutting the federal deficit got off to a raucous start last week, as protesters cut off one GOP member’s opening remarks with chants that Congress should “tax the rich.”

As enticing as that may sound to those who do not consider themselves rich – that is, practically everyone below Bill Gates and Warren Buffett – Congress might be more amenable, and the nation better off, should protesters take up the chant of “tax the obnoxious.”

Tax policy has long been a way of discouraging bad behavior, like smoking and drinking. Cigarettes and alcohol cost relatively little to make compared to the taxes and fees the various governments impose, trying to save us from ourselves.

Under that precedent, Congress should levy a tax on television newscasters who misuse the word “literally.” The word has become a staple on both national and local news programs, where reporters seem to believe it is interchangeable with really or truly – which it literally is not. For the sake of the children, tax it hard, tax it now.

A source close to the supercommittee said there’s a problem…

Happy new fiscal year, Washingtonians.

Forget about making resolutions, but remember to get a new tab for your boat, or a Discover Pass if you plan to be spending time in state parks. If you’re a state employee, your paycheck gets smaller starting today.

Some restaurant owners get a break, shoppers who come down from Canada don’t. The state’s two-year budgeting cycle starts today, although many program cuts the Legislature approved to make that budget balance will be phased in…
  

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OLYMPIA — The Senate narrowly rejected a plan to extend taxes levied to build Seattle's baseball stadium as a way to pay for expansion of the state convention center, arts and culture programs and housing projects.

By a 24-22 vote, a proposal to continue a tax on hotel and motel rooms and rental cars in King County went down in the face of warnings that voters would be convinced of the adage that there's nothing more permanent than a temporary tax. To pass the Senate, a bill needs at least 25 votes. It could be brought back for another vote sometime Friday if one of the 22 “no” votes switches sides.

The taxes were approved in 1995 to build a new stadium for the Mariners, now known as Safeco Field, during a special session of the Legislature. The taxes were to stay in place until bonds were paid off or 2015, whichever came first.

The bonds will be retired later this year. SB 5958 would have continued charging the taxes until 2015, and redirect the money to expand and renovate the Convention Center in Seattle, Pioneer Square preservation projects, affordable housing projects in Seattle and arts programs. 

“We made a commitment to the people of King County and the state of Washington,” Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, said. “Voters have to know that when we say a tax is going away, it really will go away.”

OLYMPIA — The state collected $321 million in delinquent taxes from nearly 9,000 businesses through an amnesty program that ended Saturday. The success of the program surprised state officials, who were expecting to pick up about $24 million when the program was proposed in December.
To read the rest of this item, click here to go inside the blog.

OLYMPIA — The sixth initiative to the people qualified for the Nov. 2 ballot this afternoon. Initiative 1107 asks voters to repeal taxes the Legislature levied earlier this year on soda, candy, bottled water and some processed foods.

That means voters will have two chances to undo things the Legislature did: repeal some of the taxes the Democrats passed as a temporary measure to ease the state’s budget problems, and reinstate a two-thirds majority for any tax increase (I-1053).

And they’ll have four chances to do things the Legislature has been asked to do several times, but  has never had the votes to accomplish: end state-run liquor stores (I-1100 and I-1105); add private insurance to the workers compensation system (I-1082); and pass a state income tax for the upper income levels (1-1098).

There will also be three referenda on the ballot: R-52 to approve bonds for energy efficiency projects at schools and colleges; HJR 4220, to amend the state constitution to expand bail requirements and HJR 8225, to change the constitution’s rules on debt limits for the state.

OLYMPIA — Although the economic recovery “lost steam” in May, the state’s economic outlook is slowly improving and the state’s budget no longer awash in red ink.

What’s keeping it in the black, however, are hundreds of millions in new taxes the state expects to collect through mid 2013, and an as-yet unfulfilled promise of $480 million in federal money.

Arun Raha, the state’s chief economist, said this morning the state’s job growth was “disappointing” in May, after several good months of increases when manufacturing and software jobs improved. In May, most of the job growth was from temporary employment for people helping with the U.S. Census.

Some employers are holding off on new hires…

OLYMPIA — Initiative sponsor par excellance and alert reader Tim Eyman points out an inaccuracy in last Saturday’s item about the tax increases Gov. Chris Gregoire signed.

He and other tax foes in his camp have filed initiatives to repeal six of the taxes passed by the Legislature in its special session. The story said they had filed initiatives to repeal most of the taxes, and that’s numerically incorrect. The Legislature raised 17 taxes, so their initiatives only cover about a third of them.

Through various initiatives, Eyman et al want to repeal the new soda tax, the bottled water tax, the beer tax, the candy tax, the cigarette tax and the service industry business and occupation tax increase.

While these are the most recognizable (some might say notorious) tax changes coming out of the special session, there are about a dozen other smaller ones, such as the clarification of taxes on electricity from Public Utility Districts, taxes for officers of a failed limited liability corporation or the end to the sales tax exemption for handling livestock nutrients at dairies.

In terms of dollar figures, they are seeking to repeal taxes that would provide more than half of the new revenues the state expects to collect. But that’s different than “most of the taxes,” which is the phrase used in the item.

Gregoire signs tax bill as crowd that includes Rep. Ross Hunter (right) looks on.

OLYMPIA — Gov. Chris Gregoire signed two major tax increases Friday, insisting the state had no choice but to raise taxes on a wide range of businesses and consumer goods to protect key services.

She discounted any potential electoral backlash for Democrats from the tax increases in November, saying the budget isn’t a partisan issue.

“This is not about partisan politics. This is about tough times in the state of Washington,” Gregoire said.

When Washington was in a major economic downturn in the early 1980s, the governor was a Republican and both house of the Legislature were controlled by the GOP. They raised taxes, too, she said.

But voters gave the Legislature back to Democrats in the 1982 election, and defeated Gov. John Spellman in 1984.

“I’m not forgetting that,” Gregoire said. But she did consult with Spellman during the tax discussions, and he said the biggest mistake he made was extending the sales tax to food, a move which was overturned at the ballot box. “That’s why I’ve said let’s go for things that are discretionary.”

Between May 1 and July 1, taxes will go up on a wide range of goods and services.

Cigarettes will cost an extra $1 per pack. Candy, gum and bottled water will be subject to state and local sales taxes (they’re currently exempt as food). Soda pop will cost an extra 2 cents per 12 ounce can. Beer from major breweries will cost an extra 28 cents per six-pack, although microbrewed beer will be exempt from the new tax levy.

The service industry, which includes a wide range of businesses from lawyers and accountants to barbers and musicians, will pay an extra .3 percent on gross revenues. Out of state businesses will see new tax formulas, and companies that supply goods to in-state distributors will continue paying a tax that the state Supreme Court ruled last fall was improperly being levied against one major food supplier, DOT Foods.

Gregoire said Washington residents could avoid many of the consumption taxes by changing their habits — drinking tap water instead of bottled water, for example, or giving up smoking. Or they could continue buying those items and pay the increases, which would find everything from education programs to health care to senior programs: “I believe in the people of the state of Washington. I’m asking them to stand up.”

Republicans, who spent the 60-day regular session and the 30-day special session fighting any tax increases, called them job killers. Sen Janea Holmquist, R-Moses Lake, dubbed it the 7-11 Kwik-E-Mart tax package because so  many of the items are the stables of convenience store sales.

OLYMPIA – Most years when the Legislature goes home, the winners and losers are pretty obvious. You count the scars and tote up the pork.
This year, everyone has scars and the Lege wasn’t cutting on a fat hog, so the final judgment may wait at least until November when voters decide whether half the Senate and the whole House should be rehired.
But some folks are better or worse off after the session lurched to its close early Tuesday morning than they were when it started in January with all the yada-yada about bipartisan cooperation.
Bipartisanship was a clear loser. Democrats had such a big majorities in both chambers that the real fight was among their factions, rather than a Republican/Democrat struggle.
The “business moderate” wing of the Democratic Party, which would include Spokane Sen. Chris Marr and Rep. John Driscoll, argued for more cuts and fewer tax hikes. They lost. They consistently voted against the budgets, but the budgets passed. Republican opponents might not be able to pound them quite so hard this fall, but the biz Ds will still have to work to distance themselves from the rest of the pack if voters are torqued.

OLYMPIA – By the time the Legislature wrapped up 90 days of heated and sometimes confusing debate over taxes and spending Tuesday, it had raised taxes on a wide array of consumers and businesses, cut some programs, boosted others, moved hundreds of millions of dollars around, and penciled in hundreds of millions more by betting on the federal government to come through.
But the final hours of the special session did not go smoothly, and at one point the governor made a rare visit to the Senate floor to keep the state from facing cash flow problems in the fall. The Senate had not passed a bill to move some $230 million from the state’s Rainy Day account into the general operating budget and without it, the state’s cash reserves could dip perilously low at some point before the two-year budget cycle ends in June 2011.
“I have a problem,” a visibly angry Gregoire said as she stormed passed reporters, into the wings of the Senate chamber and Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown’s office at 11:12 p.m….

OLYMPIA — State Treasurer Jim McIntire added his kudos to the just concluded legislative session with a note that should make all Washingtonians feel a little better.

The state now probably has enough money to pay its bills through June 2011.

Not that the state would be bouncing checks or anything. But earlier in the session, McIntire notified legislators and the governor that the rate that money was coming in was not keeping pace with the way it was going out, and Washington could hit a point in the fall were its reserves were so low it might have to borrow short-term to pay some of its obligations. Like payroll.

“Based on a preliminary assessment of the tax and budget package, we believe we have a sufficient cushion to ensure we have the cash necessary to pay our bills,” McIntire said.

Other states, most notably California, had to issue I.O.U.s at one point because of cash flow problems.

OLYMPIA — The House passed the supplemental capital budget, the “bricks and mortar” budget that spends money on things like school buildings and sewer plants, as well as fire reduction, water projects and corrections.

It passed 61-36. Republicans, including Rep. Gary Alexander of Olympia, warned of the rising debt level the state is amassing. But Democrats said the bill provides jobs as well as needed infrastructure.

The end of the session is near.

OLYMPIA — The Senate passed the supplemental budget Monday evening, joining the House in a spending plan that tries to fill an estimated $2.8 billion hole in the state’s two-year operating budget.

On a 25-21 vote, it added its approval to the budget approved a few hours earlier across the Capitol.

Republicans, who were unanimous in their opposition, said the bill was being forced through without careful consideration, in the closing hours of the session, and has significant problems.

“Voting on a budget is a big decision,” Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville said. “Those who are going to vote for it, have you read it?”

Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, said the Legislature spent the month of a special session, figuring out how to raise taxes, not making any changes to a broken system.

Some Democrats also refused to support the budget. Sen. Rodney Tom of Bellevue said it doesn’t grasp the reality of the economy, and sets up education to fail.

But Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, said the economy is cyclical, and when times are tough, the demand for state services go up. “Just when the gap opens up, we need it the most. Many things are going to cost more, but we did the right thing..”

The budget has cuts as well as tax increases, Brown said, and no one say it’s perfect. “We are not a Legislature of 1. This job gets done by working together.”

Sen. Cheryl Pflug, R-Maple Valley, an economic downturn is not the time to implement all day kindergarten or a major energy savings construction plan. “How can we say it suddenly became a crisis to add these programs?” It may not be a Legislature of 1, she added “but it is a Legislature of one party.”

OLYMPIA — Democratic legislators released their spending plan  with a combination of cuts and assumed tax hikes, designed to fill a $2.8 billion hole in the state’s operating budget.

If passed as expected later today or Tuesday, the budget pulls in $757 million in new taxes, cuts $840 million in programs, pulls in at least $618 million in federal funds, and moves nearly $600 million around from other accounts and reserves.

Among the cuts are nearly $55 million by closing or reducing state prisons. Slated for closure is  the Pine Lodge Correctional Facililty for Women in Medical Lake.

In making the closures, budget negotiators “looked closely at a report done last year…and tried to minimize politics,” Rep. Kelli Linville, D-Bellingham, said. Pine Lodge is in the Spokane area, which has Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown among its legislative delegation.

That report,  however, recommends leaving Pine Lodge open to have a corrections center for women inmates in Eastern Washington. Asked about the difference, Linville replied: “We used the report as a basis. We were trying to use real information first, and then we negotiated the budget.”

The budget also cuts more than $150 million in  K-12 programs, $73 million from colleges and assumes almost $49 million in savings through temporary layoffs of state employees.

It uses money from the tax increases to maintain all-day kindergarten, gifted program and levy equalization for public schools, state need grants for college students, the current levels for Basic Health and the Apple Health for children programs. Temporary assistance for needy family levels would remain at their current levels, as would most foster care payments and nursing home payments, and some nursing home cuts would be restored.

Approved by the Senate Ways and Means Committee was a supplemental Capital Budget Plan that would spend nearly $241 million for major and minor construction projects.

Included in the supplemental capital budget are $3.5 million for the Biomedical and Health Sciences Building at Washington State University Spokane’s Riverpoint Campus and about $3.5 million in repairs, maintenance and improvements to buildings at Eastern Washington State University. The proposed Spokane Aerospace Center also would receive $400,000.

The budgets have been under discussion since before the session began because the two-year budget approved by the Legislature last year has been out of balance almost from the day it went into effect on July 1, 2009. The gap between what the state can expect to take in from taxes and fees compared to what that original budget planned to spend grew to $2.8 billion by February. In ability to agree on a spending plan and tax increases forced a 30-day special session that is scheduled to end Tuesday.

But Monday afternoon was the first chance the public and some members of the Legislature got to see the finished product, which has been the subject of intense negotiations by Democratic leaders. Republicans who are in the minority and have refused to vote for any tax increases until significant reforms are made, have been largely shut out of the process.

Democratic budget negotiators defended the short notice and review time before legislators vote.

“We have gone through this time after time,” Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, said. “I believe our members know what’s in this. There aren’t any surprises.”

“It was mostly our budget 30 days ago,” Linville said.

OLYMPIA – When talking about the Legislature, it’s easy to get wrapped up in parliamentary details and arcane political jargon. To avoid that, here’s a simple way to look at the budget and tax plans as the “seven-day” special session enters Day 28.

Think of solving the budget deficit as a family dinner. Like parents who profess to know what’s good for us, top legislative Democrats are about to make Washington residents eat our Brussels sprouts for the next 30 months.

They’ve treated options on the budget and taxes like menu choices. There’s stuff we all like, other things we’re OK with, and some things we’re going to turn our collective nose up at. Just as mom and dad don’t ask the kids to plan the menu, lest we ask for pizza and ice cream three times a day, they didn’t give us much say in what to serve.

For those who say “No fair!” parents can argue that when you’re going to serve Brussels sprouts, you certainly don’t tell the kids at noon, because they’ll just talk friends into having their moms invite them over. So the Democratic parental units held the menu close to the vest, not even releasing it until about a half-hour before the other grown-ups showed up Saturday. By then the menu was a done deal, with the Brussels sprouts purchased, in the pot, about to be put on the stove.

In the living room, the Republicans are arguing that we don’t need to eat Brussels sprouts.

OLYMPIA – Democratic leaders began pushing a package of some $668 million in higher taxes through the Legislature Saturday, suspending rules as they tried to beat the Tuesday deadline to adjourn.
The House of Representatives voted 52-44 to approve the tax plan that was just made public a few hours earlier after more than a week of closed-door negotiations between Democratic leaders and Gov. Chris Gregoire.
Some Democrats who voted yes conceded it was a less than perfect plan. Rep. Timm Ormsby of Spokane said he liked some of the earlier House tax proposals which closed off more tax exemptions and hit consumers of certain items less.
The proposal would raise taxes on candy and gum, soda, bottled water and mass-production beer.
“These are some of the things that people use to reward themselves,” said Ormsby, the sole Spokane-area representative voting yes. But the bill couldn’t be amended because of legislative rules governing the way it was presented, so it was an up or down vote on a plan to balance the budget, he said.
Republicans were united against the bill, contending it wouldn’t treat people equally. Rep. Doug Ericksen, R-Ferndale, noted that beer from large out-of-state breweries is taxed an extra 50 cents a gallon, or about a nickel for a 12-ounce can, but more expensive beer from microbreweries is exempt from the tax.
“This Legislature couldn’t even be fair on how it raises the tax on beer,” he said. “You stick it to the working man and give the high-fallutin’, high-paid guy in Seattle a break.”

OLYMPIA — Democratic leaders released their tax plan this afternoon, and as expected, it would raise taxes on the service industry, candy and gum, bottled water, mass-production beer, out-of-state companies with business in Washington, property management firms, some bank costs for servicing mortgages.

Some items discussed in previous hearings or approved in one chamber or the other over the last three months, were struck from the final plan. Spared new taxes are private plane owners, people who buy houses that are in foreclosure, machiinery used for wind powered turbines, coal purchased for for a power plant in Centralia, out-of-state shoppers hitting the stores in Washington, and consumers in general who at one point were facing a jump in the sales tax.

In total the tax package would raise about $668 million through the rest of the biennium, if Democrats have enough votes in the House and the Senate to pass it. Another $100 million would be raised in a separate bill, through higher taxes on tobacco.

Both chambers returned for floor debates and votes on the budget, taxes and several other issues at 2 p.m. Democrats quickly huddled in caucuses to see if they had the votes needed to pass the plan.

The House of Representatives, who has the tax package bill because the most recent vote on it occurred in the Senate, could vote on the proposal as soon as this evening if leaders determine they have the necessary 50 votes to pass it.

Legislators have until midnight Tuesday, when the special session expires, to complete all their work.

OLYMPIA – The Legislature returns Saturday with time running out in its special session and only two options on its unbalanced budget, Gov. Chris Gregoire said. Pass an array of taxes that covers everything from soda and bottled water to candy and cigarettes, or go home and have her cut the general fund budget by 20 percent.

A tax package, which has not been seen by the public because it was not final as of Friday afternoon, will be released along with a final spending plan sometime in the next four days. Democrats in both houses will have to get at least a simple majority to pass it, because Republicans remain united against any tax increase and want more cuts in wages, programs and state systems.

Based on comments by Gregoire, various legislative leaders and versions of the tax plan leaked to various news agencies or posted but later removed from a House Web site, the so-called go-home package collects an extra $800 million in taxes as part of a Democratic plan to close a $2.8 billion gap between projected revenues and scheduled expenses. The tax proposal:

• raises the tax on soda pop by the equivalent of about 2 cents a can or 50 cents a case at the wholesale level;
• places the state sales tax on bottled water, candy and gum;
• raises the tax on beer from large national breweries by 50 cents per gallon, or about a nickel for a 12 ounce can; microbreweries would be exempt;
• increases the business and occupation tax on most of the service industry from 1.5 percent to 1.8 percent of gross receipts;
• adds another $1 per pack to cigarettes, and similar tax increases to other tobacco products;
• changes systems for taxing out-of-state firms that do business in Washington.

Taxes on soda, bottled water, sweets, beer and the service industries would expire in mid 2013, although a future Legislature could change that.

Even though the public and most legislators haven’t seen the tax plan in writing, some of those affected are fighting the inclusion of their product or industry…