Tagged: Taxes

The Washington Supreme Court is expected to rule any week now on the constitutionality of supermajority votes for tax hikes. Meanwhile, Tuesday the budget committee in the Washington Senate took testimony on a proposal to enshrine that two-thirds threshold in the state constitution.

OLYMPIA, Wash. – A proposal to raise Washington’s gas tax by ten cents faces a bumpy road in Olympia. House Democrats rolled out the idea Wednesday as part of a $10 billion transportation funding package, but it faced immediate opposition.

The plan comes from House Transportation Chair Judy Clibborn. It would increase Washington’s gas tax two-cents per gallon per year for five years. House Republicans quickly pointed out that when fully implemented, the state’s fuel excise tax would be 47.5 cents per gallon – higher than any other state today.

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Washington Gov. Jay Inslee says he is open to extending the temporary taxes set to expire this year. On his first full day in office, the Democratic governor said he still favors balancing the budget without tax increases, in his words, “as much as humanly possible.”

But Inslee says he does not consider the continuation of a temporary tax as an actual tax hike.

“I am not proposing or advocating to do that today," the governor said. "But I want to make sure that I allow the legislators room to discuss this potential.”

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden was recently named Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. And one of his first moves was asking the administration to investigate the royalties it receives for coal mined on public land. Amelia Templeton of EarthFix explains.

Eliminate a tax on business, build a new mental health facility for prisoners, start a state run health insurance exchange: all things Governor Butch Otter said he wanted to do in his annual State of the State address Monday. But as Adam Cotterell reports, Otter says one thing trumps them all.