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Seattle, WA
Joined June 2009
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Washington Policy retweeted
Sounds eerily familiar, except WA's Legislature got rid of our VOTER ENACTED spending cap without even asking voters. #waleg
"Democrats and their union friends have long wanted to eliminate Colorado’s 1992 Taxpayer Bill of Rights (aka Tabor). With progressive enthusiasm running high, they see this year as their chance. Tabor limits annual spending growth to the rate of population growth plus inflation. Revenue that exceeds the limit must be returned to taxpayers."
wsj.com/opinion/colorado-bal…
Washington’s famous “no personal income tax” policy gave the state and its employers a huge competitive advantage for decades. It fueled growth and attracted talent at Amazon, Boeing, and Starbucks. It charted a no-tax course that other states followed. But now Washington looks ready to buck the very trend it helped create.
washingtonpolicy.org/publica…
Washington Policy retweeted
Washington's Income Tax Repeal Isn't a Tax Cut | DarkHorse 347 youtu.be/uN3yxNt51Tk?is=EMhP… via @YouTube
When lawmakers created the Paid Family Medical Leave program in 2019, it was only supposed to tax .4% of workers' paychecks. At the start of next year, it's set to triple that.
Research shows that paid leave isn’t primarily helping people in need. Rather, it’s being used by those with middle and upper incomes. In fact, people earning $61 per hour or more use the PFML program more than twice as much as people in the lowest-earning quintile.
Make your voice known and tell lawmakers that we can't afford to pay for programs with an ever growing price tag.
washingtonpolicy.org/takeact…
No pensions reach a million dollars. So why was the income tax, called a "millionaire's tax," written specifically to target pension income? #waleg #incometax #washington
Washington Policy retweeted
Pam Lewison, Director of Agriculture Policy at the @WAPolicyCenter, joins Dillon to dig into the numbers and explain how the “rebound” may actually be a deeply troubling signal about the future of the state’s farmers.
🎧 savefamilyfarming.org/last-g…
#TheFarmingShow #WALeg #PNW
"There is a cruel irony that state government consistently underfunds its own healthcare programs while forcing nonprofits like the one I ran to pick up the slack. Government created demand for our charity and government regulations may make it impossible to serve that need."
washingtonpolicy.org/publica…
The Paid Family and Medical Leave will rise to 1.2% of gross wages in 2027. This is triple the program's starting rate from 2019, and a 6.2% increase from last year. It is now at the statutory cap - one that lawmakers say they want to bust.
washingtonpolicy.org/publica…
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson announced a new strategy regarding homelessness. WPC's Director of Public Safety Solutions Eric Zimmerman addressed the plan:
"The mayor's plan invokes Houston and Denver, places where outdoor camping is banned. Possession of hard drugs is a felony in Texas and Colorado has a felony track for repeat possession. Without enforced separation from drug-use and prohibition of the encampments where drug-dealing and drug deaths often occur, Seattle's new strategy will cost lives, whether in a tent or in a LEAD apartment. I picture the parents worried for their slow-dying child, hearing yet another empty Seattle announcement with heartbreak."
wilson.seattle.gov/2026/10/2…
Whether Washington should have a state income tax is ultimately a decision for voters, but regardless of how anyone plans to vote, these claims deserve an immediate reality check.
washingtonpolicy.org/publica…
Washington Policy retweeted
Ok, but what about promising also not to increase the 9.9% rate and veto any legislative change that increases it?
OPINION: Last week, Gov. Bob Ferguson made a promise on Facebook. “I’ve said it before many times, and will say it again, I will veto any attempt by the Legislature to lower the threshold below a million dollars.”
mynorthwest.com/kiro-opinion…
Even if Washington state’s income tax never expands to lower incomes (breaking all historic precedent of income taxes in the country), new analysis warns of costs for workers as the law exists today: fewer jobs, less investment and fewer new employers.
washingtonpolicy.org/publica…
Washington Policy retweeted
“We had the carbon tax…And the legislators and the governor said, ‘No, it's only going to be used for climate-related.’ Well, what did Olympia recently do? They raided that money for general government...” - Former Gov Gary Locke
As I’ve said, the CCA is dishonest. 1/2 #waleg
Washington Policy retweeted
The only way out of our budgetary mess is for voters to put constraints on what the legislature can spend, just as we did in 1993 with I-601.
If we don’t, legislators will keep raising taxes to fund new spending, find that revenue wasn’t enough, and raise taxes again. #waleg
Since Washington's spending limit went away, legislators have blown state spending well beyond tax, population, and inflation growth. In fact, Washington's spending has increased more than 140 percent over the last 12 years.
Help us send a message to your legislators and the governor that Olympia needs budget discipline, and the only way this will reasonably occur is through a spending limit.
Click the link to directly contact your representatives:
washingtonpolicy.org/takeact…
Since Washington's spending limit went away, legislators have blown state spending well beyond tax, population, and inflation growth. In fact, Washington's spending has increased more than 140 percent over the last 12 years.
Help us send a message to your legislators and the governor that Olympia needs budget discipline, and the only way this will reasonably occur is through a spending limit.
Click the link to directly contact your representatives:
washingtonpolicy.org/takeact…
It is ironic to hear leaders complain about budget shortfalls while their policies actively drive jobs and investment out of the state. If revenue is the priority, why use tax dollars to promote growth while simultaneously stifling it? #waleg #wataxes #washingtontax
Travis Reep provides an example of how a union’s endorsement can differ from the views of its own members.
Reep is a fifth-grade teacher in Thurston County. He is a father of four, an elected local union representative and a WEA member. He is speaking out in support of I-001, despite WEA’s opposition.
Union political advocacy can draw on dues and include communications urging members to support particular positions.
For this reason, and many others, it’s important that public employees understand that union membership is voluntary. No one should be forced to support politicking with which he or she disagrees.
washingtonpolicy.org/publica…
The November ballot will give Seattle the opportunity to vote on a proposal to double the city’s existing .15% sales tax for Metro to .3%. That tax is on top of the .9% sales tax Metro already collects county-wide. If approved, the higher tax will be in effect for ten years and generate about $138 million per year.
Before casting a vote, residents would be well advised to consider facts that weren’t discussed by the City Council as they were putting the proposal together.
washingtonpolicy.org/publica…
Tough questions and an honest discussion. Watch our interview with Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Ben Shuldiner!
youtube.com/watch?v=iUbS9kgI…