2/3-for-taxes rule by united MCC preempts Inslee’s $5 billion in tax increases

 Earlier this week, I shared the great news that the Senate Republicans and Independent Democrat Tim Sheldon — the Majority Coalition Caucus — are united in passing a 2/3-for-any-tax-increase rule in January, shielding taxpayers from Inslee’s tax-hiking schemes in the 2017 and 2018 legislative sessions. 

         Talk about perfect timing! 

         Because yesterday at a meeting in Olympia, Inslee and the tax-obsessed Democrats steamrolled over the Republicans on the committee.  The result?  Now, anything less than $5 billion in tax increases will be reported as a “cut” and will be trumpeted as the Legislature falling short of complying with the supreme court.

         Yesterday’s legislation was “adopted over the objections of Republican lawmakers on the council, who argued that a task force is still working to determine the actual amount that needs to be spent, and that the outlook shouldn’t include estimates for policies that have not yet been enacted by the Legislature.”

         The MCC’s 2/3-for-any-tax-increase rule will negate this kind of bullying behavior by Inslee and the tax-obsessed Democrats. 

         Almost 2/3 of voters support the 2/3 rule and these 25 Senators need to leverage the public’s support for their 2/3 rule or else they’ll get steamrolled like they did yesterday.

         There is zero public support for $5 billion in tax increases.  There’s zero support for 3 1/2 billion or even a billion.  It’s clear the voters oppose any tax increase, based on this election and previous elections.  And it’s crazy to think there ever will be.

         The unified support among the MCC members for the 2/3-for-any-tax-increase rule is critically important to the taxpayers of Washington.  These 25 Senators need this rule to stand up for the 2/3 of voters who deserve representation during this session. 

       It’s worth repeating the level of public support for the 2/3-for-any-tax-increase requirement in each of their districts:

Senator John Braun (R) – 75% voter support
Senator Brian Dansel (R) – 75% voter support
Senator Randi Becker (R) – 74% voter support  
Senator Mike Padden (R) – 74% voter support
Senator Pam Roach (R) – 73% voter support
Senator Brad Hawkins (R) – 73% voter support
Senator Judy Warnick (R) – 73% voter support
Senator Sharon Brown (R) – 73% voter support
Senator Maureen Walsh (R) – 72% voter support
Senator Lynda Wilson (R) – 72% voter support
Senator Ann Rivers (R) – 72% voter support
Senator Kirk Pearson (R) – 72% voter support
Senator Hans Zeiger (R) – 71% voter support
Senator Joe Fain (R) – 70% voter support
Senator Curtis King (R) – 70% voter support
Senator Jan Angel (R) – 70% voter support
Senator Mark Schoesler (R) – 70% voter support
Senator Mark Miloscia (R) – 69% voter support
Senator Tim Sheldon (D) – 69% voter support
Senator Mike Baumgartner (R) – 68% voter support
Senator Barbara Bailey (R) – 68% voter support
Senator Jim Honeyford (R) – 68% voter support
Senator Steve O’Ban (R) – 67% voter support
Whomever replaces Senator Andy Hill (RIP) – 63% voter support
Senator Doug Ericksen (R) – 61% voter support

      During next year’s legislative session, there will be a huge war over raising taxes.  But it’s clear from this election and previous elections that there is absolutely no public appetite for higher taxes.

       You can count on us to keep fighting.  We are committed to stopping the Democrats’ tax-hiking insanity.  The voters’ passage of our Initiative 1366 last year certainly shows that the people are in no mood for any tax hikes, let alone increases totaling $3.5 billion.