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Tag: taxes

Pollster: WA conflicted over best budget, tax solution

Pollster: WA conflicted over best budget, tax solution

Washington lawmakers, struggling with a $2.8 billion budget gap, generally acknowledge that deep spending cuts will be required, but they’re still sparring over whether to also rely heavily on tax hikes.  Not much guidance from a new statewide poll that shows similar conflicting views among the electorate. Although a sizable chunk (37 percent) wouldn’t support new taxes, 63 percent said it would at least be part of the solution.  The latter voters gave a mixed reply when asked whether the…

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House tax plan: cats and dogs

House tax plan: cats and dogs

House Democrats have weighed into the tax debate in Olympia, offering an assortment of tax hikes – called “cats and dogs” in Capitol-speak – rather than a package that is anchored by a state sales tax increase. The $858 million package is closer in approach to Governor Gregoire than the Senate Democrats. The Democratic governor proposed a $605 million mix of taxes, including a $1-a-pack tax on cigarettes, a tax on pop and candy and a higher hazardous materials tax on petroleum…

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Suspending initiatives? Controversial but common

Suspending initiatives? Controversial but common

Amid considerable controversy that seems destined to spill over into the 2010 legislative races, Governor Gregoire and the Democratic-controlled Legislature have suspended a voter-approved initiative that would have required a supermajority two-thirds of both houses to boost taxes or eliminate tax exemptions. With I-960 now on hold, Olympia can approve a revenue package by a simple majority of both houses.  The Senate proposal is for $918 million worth of taxes and “loophole closures,” including a $1-a-pack tax on smokes and…

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WA budget battle is on: Taxes, cuts & Uncle Sam

WA budget battle is on: Taxes, cuts & Uncle Sam

In an unusual rush of budgetry at the Capitol, the Senate and House went public with their dueling budget plans within hours of each other, setting up a dash to adjournment within a few weeks. Both proposals rely on another round of spending cuts, more federal bailout bucks, fund transfers galore, and, yes, tax increases.  The prob: closing a budget gap of $2.8 billion, just a few short months after dealing with a $9 billion projected deficit. The Senate tax…

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Gregoire: Boost taxes by $605 million

Gregoire: Boost taxes by $605 million

Governor Gregoire has unveiled a $605 million tax package as part of a cut-and-tax plan to close a yawning $2.8 billion budget gap. The Democratic governor is steering clear of the Big 3 (sales, property or business and occupation taxes), and proposing higher taxes on smokes, candy and gum, soda pop, bottled water and oil products. The cigarette tax hike would be a buck a pack (to $3.05 total state tax per package, generating $89 million.) The pop tax would be…

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New WA revenue forecast: Up a bit

New WA revenue forecast: Up a bit

State revenue collections are “bumping along the bottom” and the expected economic recovery is still just around the corner, revenue experts said today in releasing a good news-bad news update. Bottom line is that actual revenue is up a hair, about $31 million since the November forecast, but when combined with an adverse state Supreme Court tax ruling, the new total is  down about $118 million. Coupled with a new caseload forecast this week that requires lawmakers to pony up…

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Tapeworm initiative, part deux

Tapeworm initiative, part deux

Not to be a killjoy, but it’s been pointed out that one can’t willy-nilly (or Willy Tapeworm) go and change the Great Seal of Washington.   Turns out, to do so takes a constitutional amendment, and you can’t amend the Constitution by voter initiative. As we’ve noted, James Vaughn of Ortingfiled an initiative to change the official seal from its depiction of the Father of the Country, George Washington, to one featuring a tapeworm dressed in a three-piece suit, attached to the nether region…

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Oregonians to decide fate of income tax hikes

Oregonians to decide fate of income tax hikes

While Washington lawmakers cogitate over how to close a $2.6 billion budget gap, our neighbors to the south are deciding whether to go along with the Oregon Legislature’s decision last year to boost income taxes to fill a $733 million hole. Oregonians, voting by mail over the last couple of weeks, get final say on two referenda.  One raises the personal income tax rate for the richest taxpayers and the other would boost the state’s minimum corporate inc0me tax, now…

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South of the border: Oregonians to vote on taxes

South of the border: Oregonians to vote on taxes

The Washington elections will long be over by then, but come January, Oregonians will be voting on taxes. Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown certified two referenda to the Oregon ballot, giving voters the last word on $733 million worth of personal and corporate income tax hikes that were adopted by Salem earlier this year to help close a huge budget gap.  Washington lawmakers closed a $9 billion gap without general tax increases, but some majority Democrats say some modest…

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Taxes in your future? Well, maybe …

Taxes in your future? Well, maybe …

Gov. Chris Gregoire’s stance, in both her 2008 re-election campaign and in the 2009 legislative session, was death on taxes. Now? She’s willing to at least consider it next winter. The Democratic controlled Legislature, at her insistence, closed a $9 billion budget gap this year without general tax hikes or a tax referendum to the voters.  But as the state economy continues to sputter, lawmakers face another gap of $750 million to $1 billion, due to sagging tax receipts and…

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