Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
We’re only about three weeks until our ballots arrive in the mail for the Nov. 3 all-mail-in election.
So far, the focus has been on the presidential race between Republican President Trump and Democrat challenger former president Joe Biden. Here, much of the focus has also been on the gubernatorial race between incumbent Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat from Bainbridge Island, and Eastern Washington’s own Republican challenger Loren Culp, who leads the Republic Police Department.
There has even been some discussion on other candidates.
But looking over the ballot, voters will also see four advisory questions that have had very little discussion.
These straw ballots don’t actually have any force of law if approved by voters. But they will tell lawmakers enough on the tax increases already made.
During the legislative session that ended last spring, lawmakers passed multiple new taxes without a vote of the people. The advisory measures give voters a chance to tell lawmakers what they think of those taxes.
Advisory Vote No. 32 is on Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5323. That measure eliminated plastic grocery bags and imposed a pass-through fee on shoppers who opt for store-provided paper bags.
I still remember the days paper bags were widely used in stores. They were mostly replaced in the early 1980s. But well into my high school days, they were available in rural Eastern Washington stores, including Thriftway in Benton City, where I worked my first job not related to farm work or delivering newspapers.
The tax on paper bags is expected to bring in $32 million in the next 10 years.
Then there’s Advisory Vote No. 33 focused on Substitute Senate Bill 5628. That measure imposed a tax on heavy equipment rentals.
That tax is expected to generate $103 million over the next 10 years; it will be paid by residents – predominately rural residents – who rent equipment to build homes, shops and barns. Let’s face it, since we have a do-it-yourself mindset on this side of the Cascades, it’s just one more tax on you and I.
Then there’s Advisory Vote No. 34, which increases business and occupation taxes to the tune of $843 million over the next 10 years. That tax was imposed under Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6492.
Lawmakers also passed Engrossed Senate Bill 6690, which raised an additional $1.024 billion in taxes by hiking the business and occupational tax even higher on manufacturers.
Advisory Vote No. 35 tackles that tax on airplane manufacturers, including aircraft components and tools.
All told, these measures question the Legislature’s implementation of $2-plus billion in new taxes this year without a vote of the public.
As a registered voter, you have the opportunity to tell lawmakers to repeal these unwieldy taxes. In doing so, you’ll be telling lawmakers they need to rein in the growth of government, rather than continuing to tax residents and businesses already hurting this year due to the coronavirus quarantine orders.
(Roger Harnack is the publisher of Free Press Publishing. Email him at [email protected].)
Roger Harnack is the owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. Having grown up Benton City, Roger is an award-winning journalist, photographer, editor and publisher. He's one of only two editorial/commentary writers from Washington state to ever receive the international Golden Quill. Roger is dedicated to the preservation of local media, and the voice it retains for Eastern Washington.
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