State Legislature Update from Senator Ranker

 — by State Senator Kevin Ranker —

[June 1, 2015] — With one 30-day extra session ending and another beginning, I wanted to give you an update of what is advancing and what is not here in Olympia.

Since I began serving as your Senator, we have had at least one special session nearly every year – under Democratic and Republican control. I believe there have been a few reasons for this. First, politics has to be the “art of yes.” We must reach across the aisle and work for bipartisan compromise whenever possible. I think all of us, myself included, could benefit from remembering this more often. Unfortunately, I have witnessed on more than one occasion, delays in our ability to get our work done because we are bickering over issues where we really are not far apart. We cannot let perfection become the enemy of good and we cannot let our egos stop us from thoughtfully compromising. This said, we cannot sacrifice our values for the sake of compromise.

While we must work for compromise, there are some issues – only a few – where there can be no compromise. For me, and I believe for a majority of Washingtonians, some of those are matters of reproductive choice, equality and protection of the most vulnerable in our communities. We cannot compromise when it comes to our core values, particularly when a super majority of Washingtonians are strongly pro-choice, pro-equality and believe we should protect our must vulnerable.

This year, the major reasons we have not completed our work are the significant differences between the Democratic and Republican priorities in the Operating and Transportation budgets as well as some policy differences between the two parties in the Capital Budget. I will say however, that by far the point of most contention is the Operating Budget.

As one of the Senate Democrats’ two chief negotiators, I feel that a budget must be sustainable while representing the core values of our state. A budget must provide a lifeline for the most vulnerable, ensure that all kids have access to a quality education, protect our environment and protect existing and create new opportunities for our economy to thrive while leaving our state on sound and sustainable financial footing.

While I do appreciate that Republicans and Democrats have come closer, there remain differences that threaten what I believe to be our core values such as impacts to the Temporary Relief for Needy Families program or limiting access to daycare for working families. Many who rely on these programs are in the most danger of falling through the cracks. These programs have been slashed for years and we must make sure that these members of our communities get a hand while they continue to work their way out of the recession.

So, in the end, while I am extremely disappointed to be entering a second “special session.” I believe the differences in the budgets represent core values that are worth fighting for. In the end, through thoughtful bipartisan discussions. I believe we will get there.

TRANSPORTATION

While we wait for the passage of a transportation revenue package that will make sorely needed investments in our infrastructure throughout the state, we did make some important progress on the final day of special session.

I was a proud ‘yes’ vote on the two-year transportation budget for several reasons. It funds two critical components of our state – the men and women of the state patrol and our ferry workers. There is nothing more critical than public safety and for those of us that rely on our ferry system, we know the importance of retaining and attracting great employees to make sure that system runs as intended.

Another positive of the transportation budget is something I’m particularly proud of. I continue to fight for all Washingtonians to be treated equally. With this in mind, I worked to have language included in the final Transportation Budget which would prevent our state from contracting with any businesses that does not abide by our anti-discrimination laws. While in-state corporations already must comply with these laws, there is a question regarding out-of-state companies. I have now secured agreements that this language will be included in both the Operating Budget and yesterday, the Transportation Budget. With this language we strongly state that anyone working in Washington State must comply with our state’s strong anti-discrimination laws that go further than our federal laws to protect the rights of members of our LGBTQ community.

CAPITAL GAINS VS. PROPERTY TAX

Washington’s K-12 system – which serves more than one million kids – is at a crossroads and in desperate need of revenue. Simply put, not only is fully funding our schools an obligation under a Supreme Court Decision, it is also a Constitutional and moral obligation.

Part of that obligation, according to the Supreme Court, is adequately compensating our state’s teachers.

Both Republicans and Democrats, recognizing the importance of teacher compensation, have put forward proposals in the Senate to address compensation. I would appreciate your thoughts on which you prefer or if there are other ideas you have. Details of these plans are below:

The current Senate Republican proposal pays for teacher compensation by raising the property taxes of approximately 4.1 million or 60% of Washingtonians. At its peak implementation in 2019, this will be an $871 million dollar statewide property tax increase. It would drop to a statewide increase of approximately $719 million in 2021. This will impact different regions of the state in different ways. It will be a $9 million tax increase for residents of the San Juan Islands, $13 million for residents on Mercer Island. Residents in Easton in Kittitas County will see an increase of $800,000 and residents of Republic in Ferry County will see an increase of $250,000.

Specifically, in the 40th Legislative District, residents of San Juan County will see an approximate increase of 20% in property taxes, Skagit County will see an increase of 5% and Whatcom County will see an increase of 7%.

The current Senate Democratic plan would create a high-earner capital gains tax. The proposal taxes the wealthiest .1% of Washingtonians or 7,500 individuals. The proposal imposes a 7% tax on annual gains above $250,000 for an individual and $500,000 for a couple. This high-earners capital gains tax will raise approximately $1.3 billion. Democrats also propose a Constitutional Amendment that would ensure the high-level thresholds of $250,000 and $500,000 in gains cannot be lowered without a vote of the people. This plan also:

· Excludes all single-family residences (primary residents or second, third home, etc.)

· Excludes all retirement accounts

· Excludes most livestock, agricultural and timber lands

· Could tax gains on the sale of a business on the gains over $250,000 for an individual or $500,000 for a couple

· Could tax sale of large portions of bare land on the gains over $250,000 for an individual or $500,000 for a couple

Both sides – Democrats and Republicans – are proposing that revenue be raised to solve this problem. The only difference is where that revenue comes from.

KEEP IN TOUCH

It remains an incredible honor to represent you in our state’s capital. I thank you for allowing me to continue to do so. As we work over the coming weeks to bring this special session to resolution and finish our work for the year, I would very much appreciate hearing from you. Please call or email my office with your questions, comments and concerns. Let’s talk about the best ways to advance and protect our shared values.