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OLYMPIA–Truly unbelievable. A Senate floor vote to impose an income tax has occurred before the March 17 Revenue Forecast and budget release. The state Senate has taken the first step towards imposing an income tax with a 25-24 Saturday vote on SB 5096 (income tax on capital gains). The House is expected to quickly approve the bill and send it to the Governor. The emergency clause was removed, however, meaning lawyers will have time to perfect their legal briefs with the expected court action taking a detour this fall for a referendum vote. D...
OLYMPIA–You’ve heard about the city dweller who was asked, “Where does your meat and food come from?” His reply: “From the grocery store.” In Eastern Washington, we know better. These days, we wonder if our Seattle/Puget Sound environmental friends think the same when it comes to electricity. Q: “Where does your electricity come from?” A: “The electrical outlet, of course!” This is a simplified way to say a climate change agenda pushed by Gov. Jay Inslee to eliminate the use of all fossil fuels...
It is the best of times. Calving at its finest. The calling of those chosen to tend God’s creatures. To take part in simple miracles. To alter the balance of life on earth by one small addition. It is the worst of times. Calving in the midst of a winter when one needs a depth finder to see the top of the market. When it is less worrisome to lose oneself in the task of daily responsibilities easing the burden of birth, than thinking about the price of next fall’s over-crowded weaner crop. A dilem...
WASHINGTON STATE–Imagine paying off the mortgage to your home in full and on time. Then, a month later, receiving a letter from the bank outlining an additional three years of payments owed because the bank decided your interest rate changed after you’d paid your mortgage off. That is the discussion playing out in agriculture during this legislative session. Instead of mortgage it is farmworker wages, and instead of interest rates, it is the seeking of additional wages related to a court case. Substitute Senate Bill 5172 would require all agric...
To the editor, I am concerned about the conflicting messages we as small business owners are receiving from our government leaders. I thought small (Ma & Pa) businesses were viewed favorably by most Americans. Some of the policies that have been put forth lately will have a significant negative impact on small businesses and small towns. 1. Low Carbon Fuel Standard: If this legislation passes it will raise the price of fuel for everyone and eventually raise the price of everything for everyone. All this with no guarantee of improving our...
By Tim Eyman In the past 22 years, by working together with our thousands of heroic supporters, we've qualified 17 statewide initiatives for a public vote. They all limited the governments' power over us and have saved taxpayers $46.9 billion (https://permanentoffense.com/about-us/). And our four 2/3-vote-to-raise-taxes initiatives have saved taxpayers billions more by stopping and deterring tax increases. While other initiatives spend $1.2 million to qualify, we averaged $672K because we run a...
This is a quiz to determine your calving sanity (or help you pass time in the calving barn). Match the columns. 1. Aching A. Tongues 2. Black B. Back 3. C C. Batteries 4. Cold D. Boots 5. Cracked E. Calves 6. Dead F. Breath 7. Dry G. Buckets 8. Full H. Checks 9. Hot I. Squeeze 10. Leg J. Hands 11. Midnight K. Feet 12. Muddy L. Fingers 13. Round M. Forearms 14. Slick N. Eyes 15. Soft O. Heads 16. Steamy P. Hooves 17. Sticky Q. Knees 18. Stiff R. Moons 19. Swollen S. Section 20. Tight T. Coffee...
I’m at a total loss. How can very smart lawmakers look at a letter from the IRS unequivocally calling a capital gains tax an income tax, see that every state revenue director in the country describes a capital gains tax as an income tax, realize that the nine states without a personal income tax don’t tax capital gains, and yet continue to insist a capital gains tax is an excise tax? Perhaps it’s because they are confused about the differences between a capital gains tax and a financial transaction tax. There is not a single state in the countr...
OLYMPIA–When the Legislature convened last year for the 2020 session, our economy was healthy and increased tax collections gave our state a surplus of about $2.3 billion. Over objections from Republicans who wanted to provide property tax relief, the majority party in Olympia spent this surplus on growing the size and scope of government. However, before the ink was dry on our state's new two-year spending plan, lawmakers were going home to a state – and country – that was just beginning to fe...
Times sure have changed in my nearly 30 years as a Washington state legislator. When I was a freshman member of the House of Representatives in 1993, one of the top issues facing the Legislature was public safety. Crime, especially violent crime, had been rising both in Washington and nationally. Many citizens were demanding tougher punishment on criminals, including juvenile offenders. Although both chambers in the Legislature were controlled by the Democrats at that time, there was a...
Lee Trevino has a street named after him in El Paso. Abraham Lincoln has a town named after him in Nebraska. Monty Montana has his namesake state and I’ve even got some hills named in my honor in South Dakota. But there is one feller who left his mark all over these United States. He’s got more towns and cities and counties and streets and states named after him than anyone else. An ex-president. No, not Jimmy Carter. It’s ol’ George Washington. I’ve noticed in most every town of any size ther...
OLYMPIA–All five Republicans who serve on the House Environment and Energy Committee spoke out against a bill that would kill jobs in Washington and could wipe out an entire industry. When House Bill 1084 was brought up for a vote, Republican committee members Reps. Mary Dye, Mark Klicker, Peter Abbarno, Matt Boehnke, and Keith Goehner were unified in their remarks, laying out the damages the legislation would cause. The original bill would have prohibited the use of natural gas in n...
OLYMPIA–The environment is unquestionably important to every one of us who live, work and raise families in our beautiful state of Washington. It has also become a political hotbed of polar-opposite views between urban versus rural, Eastern Washington and the Puget Sound, and between Democrat and Republican lawmakers. Gov. Inslee has reintroduced his climate change policies–the same ones defeated year after year in the Legislature since he took office in 2013. And for good reason. They are exp...
Do you believe in ghosts? How ’bout angels? Miracles? Taro cards? I grew up believin’ in Heaven and all its assorted angelic inhabitants and their counterparts in the singed black hats. Reincarnation wasn’t taught in Sunday School but we were encouraged to believe that souls existed. So, with this sort of background it was easy for me to accept ghosts. Especially when I saw the ‘ghost of Yankee Bill Summit.’ This experience happened many years ago, but I was a full-grown man with a full-grow...
OLYMPIA–Against the backdrop of now three separate income tax on capital gains proposals (HB 1496, SB 5096 and SB 5204) comes the question: What impact do these tax proposals have on the state’s competitiveness? We’ve previously documented the Washington Department of Commerce saying no personal or corporate income tax is a competitive advantage for the state. Now comes an interesting interview with one of WA’s newest CEOs to move from California–Tanium’s Orion Hindawi. Hindawi had many thoughtful things to say during a February 4, 2021 event s...
To the Editor, I would like to compliment the Garfield County Health Department and the Garfield County Hospital, in regards to their very organized structure for the purpose of giving Covid-19 vaccinations on January 29th, 2021. It ws professionally implemented and they covered all of the bases. I heard they did over 225 vaccinations without a hitch. That is a good result of significant preparation and productive work. Thank you very much. Respectfully, Charles Thomas Millspaugh Pomeroy, Wash....
OLYMPIA–The life of a bill is truly a mysterious thing. For example, let’s follow the journey of two different bipartisan sponsored bills: HB 1067 (state dinosaur) and HB 1020 (emergency powers reform). Both bills were pre-filed before session started. Both bills were referred to the same committee. Only one of these bills, however, has been scheduled for a public hearing and executive action. Based on the experience of Washingtonians over the past year, can you guess which one? That’s right, the winner for the committee’s time is declari...
- “As long as you’ve got good elimination, you’ve got it made.” Uncle Leonard - “If a man can’t drive in a bar ditch, he’s got no business on the highway.” Tink - “When asked how she got to be president, Anita replied, ‘I missed the meeting’.” - “You can’t used too much tape.” Dr. Allen - Tom Hall says, “I enjoy all company. Some when they arrive, some when they leave.” - “A true friend will tell you if yer hat’s on backwards.” Calvin - “I’d rather be at the head of the ditch with a shovel than...
SEATTLE–The COVID-19 pandemic has caused devastation locally, nationally, and internationally. It is a once-in-a-lifetime crisis that has taken the lives of over two million people worldwide. (here) Although co-morbid factors may exist, the number of deaths and the number of hospitalizations directly related to the coronavirus are easy to track and report. Government officials have used these easy-to-obtain numbers to set policy that has closed the economy and schools over the past year. The d...
OLYMPIA–As the ranking Republican on the House Health Care and Wellness Committee, I'm working hard to make health care more affordable and accessible to our citizens. Anyone who has worked in the health care industry can attest to what an uphill battle this is, with many layers of bureaucracy. A few bright spots in our current health care system are our local health departments and boards of health. At a time when many Eastern Washington citizens feel disenfranchised by the decisions being m...