Legislators Looking at Taxes; Gov. Gregoire Agrees They May Be Necessary

It's been no secret that lawmakers have been huddling to craft a tax package for voter approval for months. Now, with time running out on the legislative session, the release of the official March forecast, and the input of a coalition of tax-supporting interest groups, they may be ready to share their plans.

KIRO radio's Tim Haeck reports that, while legislators haven't shared their tax plans with her, Gov. Gregoire thinks new taxes are required. That's a shift in her oft-stated opposition to raising taxes during a recession, though she's generally said that if the Legislature wanted to submit a package to ther voters, they were free to do so. Here's the problem, in her view:

...Gregoire says it's a horrible time to hike property taxes or business taxes, "That leaves you with a sales tax. One of our major problems right now is a lack of consumer confidence. So people aren't buying anything so I don't know how much that really gets us?"

The tax coalition may be unraveling, as members grow frustrated with the options, according to Austin Jenkins report on Crosscut. He notes that three labor groups have left the coalition, citing opposition to tax proposals that fall most heavily on "working families."

The UFCW's frustration with the "coalition" seems to support what many in the legislature are hinting - that the leading contender for a tax hike package is a temporary increase in the state sales tax.

The Washington State Labor Council, an umbrella organization, says it left the coalition because its affiliates began bowing out and it wanted to show support for them. In an email, the Labor Council's Kathy Cummings adds her group isn't confident the tax effort will succeed.

Read Jenkins' report: It's a good summary of the challenges tax-boosters face this year.

Joe Turner has more on the governor's thinking.

The governor also allowed as to how there might be two tax-hike measures on the ballot this fall: one for the operating budget; a second one that would take the form of a bond measure that would pay for school construction and create jobs.

That timetable would not be much help to folks wanting a tax hike for the public schools. They'd need a June election to give them timely budget certainty, something House majority leader Lynne Kessler told a business group tleadership is considering.

The Senate budget should be out later this week. Sen. Rodnety Tom already warns of thousands of job cuts. Sen. Jean Kohl-Welles calls the shortfall "among the nation's most severe." She cites a recent Elway poll:

Sixty-four percent of those polled would approve a temporary 1-cent increase in the state sales tax. This could generate more than $1 billion over a two-year period.

As she writes, it's not enough to close the gap.

More to the point is Seattle Times editorial page editor James Vesely's observation that "once imposed, taxes tend to stick around."

UPDATE Andrew Garber clarifies the governor's stance on new and higher taxes.

She said that although she supports the Legislature's efforts to look at tax options, it's "an open question whether I'll support it."

Garber quotes Gregoire spokesman Pearse Edwards as saying the governor hasn't changed her position.