WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Rep. Brian Blake’s Legislative Update for April 28, 2013

The Legislative Session ends today, but we will be going into overtime to continue budget negotiations and reach consensus between the House, Senate and Governor Inslee.  

LUApril27As we move through special session, I’ll continue to fight for a responsible budget that funds our state’s priorities such as education, health care, jobs and economic opportunity.

Watch my latest Legislative Update for a quick summary of what we’ve done so far and what lies ahead.


Closing Tax Loopholes

The looming special session doesn’t mean that the work has stopped. This last week the House asked a simple question: Are certain tax exemptions more important than educating our kids? 

On Wednesday, we answered that question when we approved a bill that closed or modified ten outdated and ineffective tax loopholes in order to fund our children’s education. This generated about $900 million for smaller class sizes, full-day kindergarten and new classroom supplies – to name a few.

Tax breaks lose, education wins

A tax exemption is nothing new to Olympia. Lawmakers have been approving tax breaks for industries since the early 1930s. 80 years later, those exemptions live on – some long past their sell-by-date. 

There are some exemptions that make sense, of course!  When an industry is just starting out, the legislature has given them a break to help them lay their foundation. There are also exemptions for the sale of food and other necessities – good investments that make sense. 

However, these really add up and that’s had serious ramifications for Washingtonians. When some industries don’t pay their fair share, services we rely on, like schools, hospitals and public safety, get cut year after year.  

We’ve been trying to fund a 21st century state with last century’s revenue structure. The revenue package we passed begins to reform our state’s outdated tax system – bringing fairness and opportunity.

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A few of the exemptions we closed:

· Out-of-state businesses that resell prescription drugs get a preferential tax rate. This exemption does not create jobs in Washington, and puts in-state companies at a disadvantage. By ending this unneeded and ineffective exemption, $29 million this biennium will go toward meeting our obligation to fund education.

· Oregon shoppers don’t pay sales tax on purchases made in Washington. Budgeting is about choices and priorities – we chose Washington children over out-of-state shoppers. This will generate about $63.7 million over the next two years.

· Oil companies receive a tax exemption of about $5.5 million per biennium based on how fuel was transported in the 1930s. Fuel that was spilled/lost during transport was exempt from taxation. Technological advances and environmental regulations have made fuel spillage during transport a thing of the past, but companies still claim the exemption. The oil marketers are on record in support of the repeal.

You can find more information on our revenue package here.


Disclosing your Facebook password for a job? Not in our state!

Have you heard stories about job seekers who are asked for their Facebook passwords during job interviews? This sort of thing is happening all over the country but is it legal? 

Current law doesn’t say it’s not, which is why employers that do this can get away with it. 

With the passage of Senate Bill 5211, however, that’s about to change.

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The measure, which, by the way, has an emergency clause that makes it effective as soon as the governor signs it, explicitly prohibits an employer from demanding any kind of login information to your social media sites. 

This is a huge victory for civil liberties! Read all about it here.


Applications available for the Legislative Youth Advisory Council

youth councilIf you’re a teen, chances are you can’t afford a lobbyist to represent your interests in Olympia, but laws passed here have an impact on your life just the same.

Wanting to hear from Washington’s young residents, legislators passed SB 5254 in 2005, which created the Legislative Youth Advisory Council (LYAC) to:

Examine issues of importance to youth, including but not limited to education, employment, strategies to increase youth participation in state and municipal government, safe environments for youth, substance abuse, emotional and physical health, foster care, poverty, homelessness, and youth access to services on a statewide and municipal basis.

LYAC is a 22-member council of 14- to 18 year-old students from across the state who serve two-year terms. Applications are reviewed by the Council and the Lieutenant Governor’s office is in charge of making the final selection. 

Do you know a young person who might be interested? They can find the application here. They are due back on June 25.


We don’t know yet when the special session will begin, I’ll keep you posted. But please remember that I am your representative all year round, so feel free to contact me anytime.

Blakesig