The Columbian | Serving Clark County, Washington

If you happen to have been walloped by the recession (and who among us has not?) then you’ve got to believe the worst kind of momentum is building in Olympia. Legislators aren’t speaking so much about specific tax increases, but they’re sure moving in that direction.

Before we administer a reprimand, it should be pointed out that not all new revenue sources would be bad. Here’s one example: Many members of the Democratically controlled Legislature want to tax some out-of-state businesses’ transactions in Washington. That makes sense, especially if it would allow in-state businesses to compete more evenly. An Associated Press story last week reported that about $270 million could be raised by a bill that included such a strategy.

Our complaint is not with new revenue sources, per se, although we have a long-term concern about the value of short-term new revenue sources such as federal stimulus money. But The Columbian for two years has adamantly opposed tax increases on Washingtonians, and Democrats in Olympia are setting the table for doing precisely that. Senate Bill 6843, among its many flawed provisions, would suspend until July 2011 the two-thirds approval requirement that voters mandated for legislators in 2007 with Initiative 960.

The Columbian editorially opposed that initiative back then, but we accepted the voters’ decision. This year, our vehement opposition to tax increases is based not so much on the concept itself as the timing. As President Obama has noted, increasing taxes during the worst economic crisis in 70 years is foolish and harmful. And remember, I-960 was passed during better — albeit still rough — economic times.

If the Legislature can find revenue sources other than tax increases, those should not be dismissed outright but considered individually and perhaps even supported. But that’s not all Washingtonians are hearing out of Olympia. We’re also hearing talk about tax increases on candy, bottled water and other products. Trying to impose a tax increase on the fewest number of people, or trying to isolate a tax increase by training it on indulgences or sins, does not make it any more digestible to recession-ravaged people. It’s still a tax increase.

Democrats, to their great credit, proved last year that they can overcome a budget shortfall without increasing taxes. And that deficit was more than triple the size of this year’s $2.6 billion monster. Of course, the predictable response is that all of the possible cuts were used up last year. They’ve done all they can do. But Washingtonians heard that same lament last year before the cutting started.

This year, Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, has said: “Continuing to cut deeply into essential public services at a time when the public needs them the most will do damage to our communities and our long-term economic future.” But rephrase that warning from the aspect of the average family: Grabbing more money when families need that money more than ever will damage those families and their long-term economic future.

Another gimmick in SB 6943 is almost as offensive. Currently tax and fee proposals are required to show cost projections over 10 years. Democrats want to reduce that to six years. We don’t see how taking a shorter-term view of the fiscal impact can possibly make budget planning more efficient.

The only good thing about SB 6943, from a purely parochial perspective, is that its nine sponsors do not include any Democrats who serve Clark County. But you can be certain that local Democrats are under intense pressure in caucus meetings, and don’t be surprised if any or all of them vote in ways that would accelerate this worst kind of momentum.

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