The following op-ed appeared in the Cheney Free Press and associated papers the week of April 7.
By Sen. Leonard Christian, R-Spokane Valley
With three weeks to go before our scheduled adjournment in Olympia, our 2025 legislative session is looking more and more like a showdown between a legislative majority that has lost its moorings and a governor who has the temerity to behave like a grown-up. Last week Gov. Bob Ferguson decided the irresponsibility was too much for him, and he told his fellow Democrats in the House and Senate to tear up their budgets and start over.
Good for him. We’ve never seen a governor tell off his own party like this, but we’ve never seen recklessness on this scale, either. To cover a deficit created entirely by a massive run-up in state spending, our colleagues have been planning the biggest tax increase in state history. This would allow them to keep making the same mistakes and dig our state’s hole even deeper. For all their talk about “making the rich pay their fair share,” their proposals would be so devastating to the middle class that it would be hard to imagine a future in this state for people like you and me.
During this brief pause while everyone considers the next move, let us stop and appreciate the irony. At a time when the fast-rising cost of living is America’s top concern, our colleagues are proposing to make life in Washington even more expensive. This is “progressive tax policy?” Only some of this has to do with the budget, and it makes the most sense to consider cumulative effects – like:
Increasing the cost of housing. Renters and homeowners alike would be slammed by proposals for higher property taxes. A House bill would allow them to rise at three times the current rate; the Senate version is even worse. Your property taxes could rise 50 percent within a decade, and due to compounding they would just keep climbing. This would allow the Legislature to shunt responsibilities to the local level and enable even greater state spending. A record 43,153 people registered opposition to the Senate bill at a hearing Monday. Meanwhile, a proposal for rent control would eliminate any incentive to build new rental units and would worsen our current shortage of affordable housing.
Increasing the cost of driving. Washington already has some of the highest gas prices in the country, and this year our colleagues are considering proposals that would drive them higher. Our colleagues are proposing higher gas taxes AND a new “road usage charge” – we could wind up with both. We also have a proposal to ratchet up our state’s costly and unworkable low-carbon fuel standards law. Of course, the higher our fuel prices, the higher our costs for food and anything else delivered by truck.
Increasing the cost of everything else. Our colleagues have proposals for higher college tuition, higher hunting and fishing licenses, higher liquor licenses, higher access fees for state parks – you name it, there’s a proposal to raise it.
Reducing job opportunities: There are really only two proposals that stick it to the rich the way our friends promise, and both are terrible ideas that will come back and bite us. One is a tax on high-paying jobs, and the other is an unprecedented “wealth tax” on stocks, bonds and other investments. These would quickly drive wealthy job creators out of state and reduce the vitality of our economy. Most important, receipts would quickly fall short of projections, and these most likely would become an excuse for an income tax that hits us all.
All this session, Republicans have been pointing out that none of this is necessary if we just avoid new spending for non-emergency purposes. Our colleagues have ignored us. It will be harder for them to ignore their governor. If only Nixon could go to China, maybe it takes a Bob Ferguson to convince our majority colleagues their proposals are nuts. Me, I’m still getting over the fact I have to say, “Thank you, Governor Ferguson.”
Sen. Leonard Christian, R-Spokane Valley, represents Washington’s 4th Legislative District.