Once again some representatives in Washington state are attempting to throw Southwest Washington businesses under the bus. House Bill 2791 would eliminate the sales-tax exemption for Oregon buyers. The $29 million would go to pay for full-day kindergarten for Washington state students, a noble idea of course, but hardly defensible in these economic times. It is reported the increased revenue would fall short of its goal and the general budget would be required to backfill the deficit.
Our family would find alternatives to shopping in Washington state for other than food, medicines, and medical care. Our personal and business needs can easily be met shopping on the Oregon side of the river and using the Internet. With Internet purchases, we often find more competitive prices and items are delivered to our door conveniently and quickly without any additional tax.
This bill will likely put some people out of work as business declines, and it may cause some businesses to struggle or to fail. Some businesses report 40 percent of their sales come from Oregon buyers.
Why attempt to fix something that is not broken? The advantages of this exemption to Southwest Washington businesses and Oregon residents are obvious.
