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 […]
Tag: Strong Commonwealth
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 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 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 […]
Posted inEducation, Policy Topics
Go Jay Inslee! Governor proposes $3.9 billion in new revenue for our K‑12 public schools
Declaring that we have a duty to follow our Constitution and provide a quality education to every child in our state, Governor Inslee today unveiled a bold plan to fully fund our state’s K‑12 public schools and end the McCleary litigation. “We face an opportunity — and an obligation — in this upcoming session to […]
Posted inEducation, Policy Topics
Tim Eyman pal Michael Baumgartner prefiles amendment to repeal “paramount duty” language in Washington State Constitution
In a fairly blatant attempt to get some attention for himself and steer public discourse away from fully funding our public schools, extremist right wing Senator Michael Baumgartner of Spokane has prefiled a constitutional amendment that would repeal the memorable opening words of Article IX of the Washington State Constitution (“It is the paramount duty […]
Posted inAnnouncements, Legislative Advocacy
Washingtonians really, really want a capital gains tax to address education funding crisis
Washington voters believe our public schools are underfunded and strongly support raising revenue at the state level to address the problem, according to a new survey conducted last week by Public Policy Polling for the Northwest Progressive Institute. 63% of the likely voters who responded to the survey agreed that Washington’s schools need more funding. […]
Posted inEconomic Security, Legislative Advocacy, Policy Topics
Eyman’s I‑1366 is buried; now the Legislature needs to get back to work on school funding
Yesterday, Washington’s Supreme Court gave Tim Eyman’s I‑1366 a proper and fitting burial, ruling 9–0 that the measure was unconstitutional. In affirming Judge William Downing’s decision striking down Tim Eyman’s I‑1366 in its entirety, the high court both did its job and rescued the Legislature from having to worry about losing $8 billion in funding […]
Posted inLegislative Advocacy
Tim Eyman is wrong: Washingtonians have previously supported levying an income tax
Prolific initiative sponsor and serial liar Tim Eyman sent out an email this morning once again taking aim at the grand tax reform proposal unveiled by State Treasurer Jim McIntire and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn back in the spring. Though the proposal is over six months old, Eyman was irked that The […]
Posted inElections, Legislative Advocacy, Litigation, Policy Topics
New legal challenge filed against Tim Eyman’s hostage-taking I‑1366 in Superior Court
With Washington’s 2015 general election on the verge of being certified, the time has come to continue the fight against Tim Eyman’s I‑1366 in the courts. Accordingly, attorneys with Pacifica Law Group have filed a new lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment that I‑1366 exceeds the scope of the initiative power and violates multiple provisions of […]
Posted inElections, Legislative Advocacy
A progressive Legislature, not Eyman’s 1366, can fix Washington’s regressive tax system
Within hours of Election Night 2015, after it had become apparent that Tim Eyman’s hostage-taking I‑1366 had too much of a head start in early ballots to be defeated, multiple commentators with a thirst for progressive tax reform began floating the idea of using I‑1366 as a springboard to get the job started, reasoning that […]
Posted inLegislative Advocacy
New NPI poll finds Washingtonians strongly support a capital gains tax on the wealthy
A clear majority of Washington voters support taxing the capital gains of wealthy individuals to help pay for public schools, colleges and universities, according to a new survey conducted by Public Policy Polling for NPI. Our recent annual research poll found 55% of Washingtonians likely to vote in the November 2015 general election support a capital gains tax, with […]
Posted inElections
Coalition fighting Tim Eyman’s incredibly destructive Initiative 1366 is gaining strength
For the past few months, we’ve been sounding the alarm about Initiative 1366, the most cynical, mean-spirited, destructive initiative that Tim Eyman has ever sponsored (and that’s saying something!) and asking organizations committed to the defense of Washington’s values to join us in opposing I‑1366. We are happy to report that our efforts have been […]
Posted inElections, Legislative Advocacy
Join the coalition opposing I‑1366 — Tim Eyman’s most destructive initiative yet
This November, in addition to choosing leaders at the city, county, and port level, Washingtonians will very likely be deciding the fate of the most destructive initiative that Tim Eyman has ever proposed: Initiative 1366. I‑1366 is a clone of last year’s I‑1325, which failed to make the ballot because Eyman wasn’t able to find […]