Carrell says bill constitutes largest tax increase in state history

With just five days left in the 2010 legislative session, the Washington State Senate passed Senate Bill 6143, which would create or raise 21 separate taxes. Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, and member of the Senate Ways and Means committee, issued this statement after the measure passed today by a vote of 25-23:

“It’s astonishing how arrogant the majority party in Olympia has become. This is a clear indication that its first thought when facing a budget crisis is to raise taxes, and not to reform the way government operates. The state got into this mess by growing state spending by 33 percent during the governor’s first four years in office. The Legislature and the governor continue to spend tax dollars unabated, and now are fueled by the promise of more money to spend from the federal government.

“In the Senate Ways and Means committee just last week, over 70 million dollars in pork projects were added to the Senate budget to get a majority of members to vote for it, and we haven’t even gone after the surplus funds that various state agencies and organizations have lying around. The Washington Education Association, for example, has over 100 million dollars in state tax money in a slush account which has not yet been spent. Yet the Legislature feels it necessary to raise taxes on our citizens to make up a budget deficit that it created?

“We also have a number of large construction projects around the state, which is good for the economy, but one half of 1 percent of the total cost of each project by law has to be spent on art. And because of a bill passed this session, those artists don’t even have to be based in Washington. The state is spending millions of dollars on these art projects, and now that money may not even stay in our economy.

“Passing this budget has left us with deficits as far into the future as the eye can see. There have been no systemic reforms to our budgeting process. In fact, the Senate has even fled from the so-called ideals which were held dearly as recently as last session. For example, this package of taxes increases taxes on green energy projects like wind and solar power. When push comes to shove, it’s apparent that the Legislature doesn’t really care about those projects as much as it does the money.

“It’s time to stop talking the talk and start walking the walk. If the Legislature continues to do business as usual, the only answer the majority party seems to offer up is more taxes. The tax increases passed today, which comprise the single largest operating-budget tax increase in state history, are a perfect example of where the values of the majority party truly lie.”

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