WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Rep. Moeller Legislative Update: House and Senate budget comparisons

Hi folks,

In the last few weeks I’ve shared with you information about the three separate budgets the Legislature passes: the Operating budget, the Capital budget and the Transportation budget. The House has passed two of these budgets, the Capital and the Operating budgets.

The Capital budget provides funds for local projects, like food banks and parks. I am very excited about the projects from the 49th District that were included this year. We received funds to create a Clark County Aging Resource Center ($900,000); funds to repair and rebuild the Fort Vancouver Quartermaster and Dental Surgery buildings ($309,000); continued work on the Columbia River Waterfront Park ($500,000) as well as a Wildlife Recreation Grant ($500,000) for the waterfront trail area.

The Operating budget includes funding for schools, and universities, health care and social services, parks and recreation and more. The House budget focuses on meeting our constitutional obligation to fully fund basic education, put back the cuts we made to mental health and the social safety net during the Great Recession, and addresses our underlying unfair tax system by reforming the Business and Occupation Tax to cut taxes for businesses making $200,000 or less a year, and ending corporate tax breaks that no longer make sense.

We make much needed investments in our workforce, education, mental health services, early learning and support for families experiencing difficult financial times. We do so by investing significantly in Early Learning, K-3 class size reduction, and improving how we transition students from high school to the workforce or college. We’re also freezing college tuition again, and increasing the funding for the State Need Grant and scholarships for high-paying technology jobs, so we can continue to grow our economy and get our children ready for the jobs of the 21st century. The Republican-controlled Senate budget neglects to address many of the critical needs of our state, they either choose not to invest in these services or cut the current funding levels.

Rather than fixing our broken revenue system, the Republican-controlled Senate proposes to waste $114 million in state funds on new tax breaks. For example they want to continue tax breaks for business research and development activities many of which were recommended for expiration by the citizen’s commission that was created to review tax breaks. Their budget also steals from the Public Works Assistance Funds, money that creates jobs and is supposed to fund projects that support clean water, protect our environment as well as our public health and safety efforts. And they want to divert recreational marijuana taxes from the health and drug awareness programs to pay for their bottom line.

Instead of asking the very-wealthy to pay their fair share in taxes, the Senate Republicans are raiding dedicated accounts and cutting services. I am not willing to bet the security of my community on gimmicks and unproven tax strategies.

These are just a few of the specifics of the budget. If you have any questions about a program or state agency don’t hesitate to contact my office and we will find the answer for you.

I want to leave you with this quote from Rep. Pat Sullivan, my friend and colleague from the 47th District, which sums up the Democratic vision for our state. This budget is about who we are and what we value and Pat said it best:

“We can either step up to the challenge, or lose the opportunity to help middle-class families. I’m willing to step up to that challenge, and I’m willing to vote for a budget that gives people hope across this state.”

Rep. Jim Moeller