No Enthusiasm for Tax Hike

Passing out of committee 8-7 may be about as good as it gets for the proposed 0.3 percentage point hike in the sales tax rate for health care and targeted tax relief for low income people.Rich Roesler has a good account of the committee discussion. TVW has the hearing and the Republican press conference here. Brad Shannon's report is here.

Although the hospital association tells TNT reporter Joe Turner that they support putting it on the ballot, they're noncommittal about plans to fund the campaign. The News Tribune also today takes a thoughtful editorial look at the claim that "people will die" if voters don't support the tax hike.

From the editorial:

... we're dismayed that lawmakers seem bent on giving state workers their automatic "step" increases and keeping their share of health insurance premiums well below what private-sector workers pay. Meanwhile, they're talking about kicking thousands of low-income Washingtonians off the Basic Health Plan.

How about putting the sacred cows on the ballot, and protecting the poor in the actual budget?

If the Legislature decides to punt and tell voters that vital social services are theirs to save, it will be a dereliction of duty. And yes, people might die. But the fault won't be lawmakers' for not sending a tax measure to the ballot. It will be theirs for neglecting their job.

In my column today, I compare the final days of the session to a game show. We've just entered Double Jeopardy, where anything can happen. Let lawmakers know how you feel about new taxes.