Nearly three in five Washington voters agree it’s time for the state to put a price on pollution to fund a socially responsible transition to clean energy, according to a survey conducted last month by Public Policy Polling for NPI. 59% of likely 2018 voters surveyed agree that Washington State should reduce emissions of air pollutants like […]
Tag: Fiscal Responsibility
Posted inLegislative Advocacy
Washingtonians still want a capital gains tax to fund public education, NPI poll confirms
A majority of Washingtonians remain supportive of levying a capital gains tax on the wealthy to ensure our state meets its paramount duty of providing an amply funded education for all children residing within its borders, the Northwest Progressive Institute’s most recent statewide survey has confirmed. 57% of likely 2018 Washington voters surveyed by Public Policy Polling […]
Posted inLegislative Advocacy
Republican incompetence jeopardizing 2017–2019 capital budget for Washington State
State legislators may have been able to avoid a state government shutdown by passing an operating budget on June 30th, but they are only hours away from facing the consequences of failing to pass a 2017–2019 capital budget, which will include layoffs, project delays, and the continued denial of an amply funded public education to […]
Posted inLegislative Advocacy
City of Seattle adopts income tax on the wealthy; legal challenge coming
Seattle’s City Council has voted unanimously to levy an income tax of 2.5 percent on high earners, setting the stage for a protracted legal battle over whether local governments have the authority to pursue progressive tax reform on their own.
Posted inPolicy Topics, World Commmunity
Washingtonians are hungry for meaningful corporate tax accountability, NPI poll finds
NPI’s research has confirmed that there’s an extraordinary appetite for meaningful accountability that spans the ideological spectrum and every demographic group imaginable.
Posted inLegislative Advocacy
End of Washington’s fiscal year looms as lawmakers disclose details of budget deal
While those watching out for the release of the Washington State Legislature’s final state budget were sorely disappointed this afternoon, details were bubbling out about the Legislature’s plans to address McCleary. Legislative staff, however, are still scrambling to actually produce a budget that negotiators have agreed to in order avoid a state government shutdown. Then […]
Posted inLegislative Advocacy
Budgets need scrutiny: State Legislature’s lack of fiscal transparency is unacceptable
Yesterday, without fanfare, Governor Jay Inslee’s office announced that the majority caucuses of the House of Representatives and the Senate had reached agreement (“in principle”, at least) on a go-home budget deal that would avert a state government shutdown following the end of the day on Friday, June 30th, the last day of the current […]
Posted inLegislative Advocacy
Kansas Republican legislators override their Norquistian governor, restore income taxes
Kansas Republicans were warned that Sam Brownback’s Norquistian plot would only lead to disaster. But they did not listen. And so they had to learn a hard lesson.
Posted inEducation, Policy Topics
House Democrats unveil “Families First” budget proposal, embrace capital gains tax
Lawmakers representing Washington State’s House Democratic majority took the wraps off of their budget this afternoon, offering a starkly different plan for the next biennium than the Senate Republicans did last week. “Our approach to the budget is ‘what’s best for kids?’ This budget and our [education funding] plan is what’s best for kids,” the caucus […]
Posted inLegislative Advocacy
Tim Eyman vigorously endorses Senate Republican budget that raises property taxes
Sounding very much like a spokesman for top Republican Senator Mark Schoesler of Ritzville, Tim Eyman this morning sent out an email offering a ringing, fervent endorsement of the Senate Republicans’ proposed budget for 2017–2019, which would increase property taxes on many Washingtonians. “Here’s how my day went yesterday: drove to and from Olympia through […]
Posted inPolicy Topics, Public Planning
Trump regime declares war on rail: Budget would eviscerate Amtrak, light rail funding
Passenger rail service in the United States of America is now officially under an unprecedented assault following the release of neofascist Donald Trump’s regime’s “budget blueprint”, which proposes gutting most of what’s left of Amtrak’s national network of intercity rail routes and yanking away funding promised to regions like ours for the expansion of badly […]
Posted inEconomic Security, Elections, Legislative Advocacy, Policy Topics
Tim Eyman’s Initiative 1550 would enrich the wealthy at the expense of the rest of us
As Washington homeowners received their most recent property tax bills, disgraced initiative promoter Tim Eyman couldn’t resist trying to exploit their concerns by announcing his intent to qualify an initiative to the November 2017 ballot that would cut property taxes by twenty-five percent. Like Eyman’s I‑1366, which was struck down as unconstitutional last year, its […]
Posted inLegislative Advocacy
Tim Eyman offers tacit backing of Republican levy swipe scheme he once opposed
Disgraced initiative promoter Tim Eyman today revealed midway through an email to his followers that he’s on board with Washington State Senate Republicans’ plan to swipe property tax school levy dollars from urban and suburban school districts and send them to rural school districts they happen to represent. After shaking his fist at the Senate […]
Posted inElections, Legislative Advocacy
Rural Republicans: Tim Eyman’s I‑747 is choking the life out of our cities and counties
Yesterday, the Senate Committee on State Government held a hearing on legislation that would replace Tim Eyman’s arbitrary cap on property taxes with more reasonable limits tied to drivers of local governments’ costs. The legislation, Senate Bill 5772, is prime sponsored by Senator Jamie Pedersen and cosponsored by Republican Senator Maureen Walsh, among others. As […]