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Dear Friend:
House Republicans promised real solutions this legislative session. And we are delivering on that promise. We were the first caucus to introduce a relief package on January 19: The REAL Recovery for Washington Act. As I mentioned last week, this $4 billion package does not rely on new tax increases or future spending obligations in years to come.
The Democrats followed with a proposal of their own a few days later, which is smaller in scope. The Seattle Times and Crosscut ran stories on the two proposals. The Washington Research Council also provided a comparison in this piece. I encourage you to contrast the approaches.
The majority party is calling this "early action," but the legislation will not reach the House floor until the fourth week of the legislative session and will then need to be considered by the Senate. Meanwhile, families are struggling and businesses are closing every day under the governor's plan -- which once again changed this week. This is why we needed a special session in 2020, something Republicans called for back in May.
Another massive transportation proposal
I discussed the roll out of the House Democrats' $26 billion transportation package and the bad headlines it received last week. Our transportation lead, Rep. Andrew Barkis, released a statement and video in response. He was also on several radio programs that you can listen to by visiting his newsroom. But if you want to take a deeper dive, and hear from both sides, I encourage you to watch this segment from TVW's The Impact.
This will be an important issue to watch closely as Senate Democrats released their competing transportation package on Wednesday. It, too, would place a heavy tax and fee burden on families and businesses. The debates on these massive and expensive proposals will be a major storyline this legislative session. I will keep you updated.
Low-carbon fuel standard mandate
On top of new transportation taxes and fees, Democrats are back with their low-carbon fuel standard mandate -- a proposal Republicans have been able to stop the last few years. This, too, would add significantly to the cost of gas while doing very little to improve air quality in our state. I talk about this controversial legislation in my weekly video update.
I encourage you to learn more about this issue by reading Rep. Mary Dye's statement from Monday. Mary is our new ranking member on the House Environment and Energy Committee and knows the policies well. As you will see in the next section, she is also focused on finding ways to lower energy costs for families.
House Republican news
Take a look at our caucus newsroom and you will see just how hard our members are working to represent their communities, advance real solutions, and keep constituents informed. Here are some examples:
The Ledger
In closing, I just want to remind you that our caucus maintains a legislative news aggregator called The Ledger. I think you will find it to be an informative resource. Please visit, bookmark and share.
Sincerely,
Rep. J.T. Wilcox
House Republican Leader
(360) 786-7912
JT.Wilcox@leg.wa.gov
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