Taxes: The road not taken ...
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It's a tale of two states.
Washington's legislative session almost seems like ancient, painful history by now. The Democratic-controlled Legislature and Democratic governor dealt with a $9 billion budget gap by spending cuts, hiring freezes and furloughs, federal dollars and various light-bulb snatches – but no general taxes, not even a referendum for funding popular programs like kids' health and higher education.
Nearly every facet of state government was cut or restrained. Cuts take effect tomorrow. Lawmakers finished on time, within 105 days, adjourning April 26, and there has been relatively little blowback, other than from those who were cut or denied.
Across the border, Washington's political, economic and cultural twin, Oregon, has just wrapped up its own session. But Oregonians took a very different approach, balancing their much smaller budget by approving more than $1 billion in new taxes. The Oregonian said the session ended with a "trail of big taxes," among the biggest in state history, even while vastly expanding health care and spending heavily for infrastructure projects.
Washington's TEA Party movement has descended on Olympia – but there's nothing spendy or taxy on the statewide ballot to protest this year. In Oregon, meanwhile a potential ballot-box tax revolt is brewing for this fall, says Floyd McKay, a longtime Oregon journalist and retired Western Washington J-School prof who now writes for Crosscut.
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Secretary of State
Steve Hobbs
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