While unveiling the state budget on Tuesday, Gov. Jay Inslee noted it would require a heavy political lift to pass some of his proposals.
If reaction from local Republicans resonates throughout the party, he’s right.
“I was hoping to see new thinking from the governor on K-12 funding — like a proposal that is rooted in the actual cost of educating a child in our state, because that might start to gain some traction across the Legislature,” Sen. Ann Rivers, R-La Center, said in a statement.
Rivers sits on the governor’s McCleary task force and on the Senate’s Early Learning and K-12 Committee. “What we got instead is a plan that would pull a truly massive amount of money out of the economy, through tax increases that can’t be dedicated to education the way he suggests, without showing how it would improve outcomes at the classroom level,” she said.
Inslee proposed spending $2.7 billion in the next two-year budget cycle to fully fund the state’s education system. The Legislature is being held in contempt of court by the state’s top court for not adequately funding education, a constitutional duty.
Inslee’s budget included some familiar proposals, including a capital gains tax and a carbon tax. He has championed both a capital gains tax and a carbon cap-and-trade proposal in previous legislative sessions without much success. He is seeking more than $4 billion in new revenue.
About 75 percent of households would see a property tax cut and starting teachers would eventually seen an increase in salary from $35,700 to $54,587.
It would also close some tax exemptions and make changes to the nonresident sales tax exemption. Inslee proposed requiring nonresidents, such as Oregonians who don’t have sales tax in their state, to have to apply for a tax refund when they purchase an item in Washington.
Rep. Paul Harris, R-Vancouver, who also sits on the governor’s education task force and is a ranking member on the House Education Committee, said he’s pleased the governor addressed levy reform, an important issue causing inequity in the school system. But he said some of the proposals have already been rejected and he’s not sure why fresher ideas weren’t presented.
“I know finding revenue is difficult, but we have to come up with new ideas and bringing up the same ideas that time and time again the Legislature or voters have rejected part of it feels a little disingenuous,” Harris said.
