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Greetings Friends,
We are in the home stretch of this year’s legislative session, scheduled to adjourn April 23. Budget negotiators are working to hammer out differences between the House and Senate’s versions of the operating, capital, and transportation proposals.
With the largest budget in state history paid for with your tax dollars, I believe it is beyond time that we see tax relief for working families. Even other Democrat-controlled states are pushing for tax relief, but here the unexpected tax collections are being used to grow state government. In fact, there have even been proposals introduced with strong support from Democratic lawmakers to increase both state and local property tax growth by threefold.
Like Groundhog Day, we are unfortunately seeing a continued push for more and higher taxes, fees and regulations on everything from energy and housing to health care and transportation.
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11th Time is the Charm
Passed in 2021, Senate Bill 5096 disingenuously created an “excise tax” on capital gains and was swiftly challenged on constitutional grounds that it violated the prohibition on a state income tax.
With some impressive mental gymnastics, the state Supreme Court recently ruled in a 7-2 decision that the law is constitutional, clearing the way for a progressive income tax.
Avocates for this new tax scheme may say it will only affect the so-called wealthy, but there is no stopping Olympia’s insatiable appetite for other people’s money. This was designed to be a test case to open the doors for a full-fledged income tax as revealed by a public records request.
I think the Dissent in the case offered a sobering and more appropriate view on the question before the court.
“In a contest between a Washington statute and the plain language of the Washington Constitution, the judicial branch has the duty to uphold the constitution."
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Honoring local hero and charities in our community
During the 2023 legislative session, I’ve proposed numerous bills to address substantial policy issues around homeless and housing, transportation, and environmental protection. Recently, I’ve sponsored several resolutions that recognize local philanthropic organizations and a fallen Border Patrol hero with local ties.
SR 8615, Recognizes the Blessing Movement, a nonprofit based in the Sumner-Bonney Lake area founded in 2019 to help senior citizens, the disabled, people on fixed incomes, veterans or those facing terminal illness, with maintenance and up-keep projects at their homes.
SR 8621 highlights the work of The Market, a food security program of the Bonney Lake Food Bank. The organization operates much like a modern grocery store serving food-insecure residents. According to the organization, their innovation started during the COVID-19 pandemic when they saw a 700% increase in customers at a small and structurally unsound location.
In March, the state Senate honored a fallen hero, United States Border Patrol Agent Donna Marie Doss with SR 8623. Doss was killed in the line of duty, struck by a vehicle while stationed in Texas in 2019. The federal government honored the Washington native, whose family resides in Enumclaw, in 2021 by renaming of the Rocksprings station as the Donna M. Doss Border Patrol Station.
“While we’re focused on big-ticket items like the homeless crisis or public safety fiasco, it’s good to take time to remember, honor, and recognize the people we serve back in district. The resolutions are a positive way to focus on people and organizations doing the real work of helping our communities and I’m honored to have worked with these exceptional people who represent the best of our district.
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Public Safety
While an actual fix for the police pursuit law, Senate Bill 5034, died, a weaker version was approved at the eleventh hour. I supported this proposal, Senate Bill 5352, because something is better than nothing when it comes to restoring public safety. I wish it had gone further to empower law enforcement to pursue suspected criminals.
If you haven't been following, the main problem was a law passed in 2021 which raised the threshold for when police can pursue suspects. It went from reasonable suspicion to probable cause. Law enforcement agencies around the state told us it was a bad idea, but the legislative majority insisted, and the governor signed it into law.
Now, we are seeing the effects with record rising crime. It has gotten so bad that the state patrol had to create a new term to track what they were seeing, called "fleds." Basically, someone is breaking the law and they attempt to stop them, but the driver won't stop. Before the police pursuit law there were around 500 per year. Just last year, there were over 3,000 of these incidences.
I'm hopeful but not optimistic that the House is able to take up this issue and improve it so that police have the tools they need to keep our communities safe.
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Protecting our Rights and our Children
Despite strong federal and event stronger state constitutional protections, some lawmakers in Olympia are obsessed with gun regulation. Problems with gun violence and crime in Washington are not caused by law-abiding citizens. It's a cumulative effect of bad laws and a judicial system that lets hardened criminals off the hook when they have guns they aren't legally allowed to possess anyway.
While working furiously to restrict your right to protect yourself and your family, the majority party enables insane things like allowing violent criminals to be released without bail, even in the case of a mass shooter. They should stop the pretense that these special-interest driven gun regulations are about protecting people.
Washington has passed 38 gun restriction laws since 2015 and still gun crimes are on the rise. It’s almost like people intent on doing unlawful things don’t care about words on paper. Just the other day, anti-constitution lawmakers passed House Bill 1143, which requires classes for firearms purchases and waiting periods. I argued that considering recent court rulings and plain reading of our state constitution, this law would impair the rights of law-abiding citizens. Watch a short video here.
This past Saturday, the Senate Democrats passed House Bill 1240, banning modern sporting rifles that they have dubbed "assault rifles." During the 4-hour debate, I offered several amendments that focused on actually doing something to prevent gun violence and protect our kids. According to the bill sponsors, the problem with mass shootings was "hyper-masculine" marketing and "troubled young men," but instead of focusing on the person pulling the trigger the legislation focused on an inanimate object. They would rather have headlines than solve the problem. Listen to a short radio story here.
Contact Me:
Mail
PO Box 40431, Olympia, WA 98504
Olympia Office
216 Legislative Modular Building
Phone: (360) 786-7660
Email: Phil.Fortunato@leg.wa.gov
www.SenatorPhilFortunato.com
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