Risks Rise with Special Session

The special session starting Monday poses higher risks for families and employers. Lawmakers attempting to reconcile dueling budget plans will face interest group pressure to increase spending and taxes.

The House has adopted a tax package totaling $681 million for the balance of the biennium. The Senate's tax plan goes higher, to $890 million.

Both increase business and occupation taxes on services. Both raise taxes on direct marketers in the wake of the Dot Foods case. Both include controversial economic nexus and tax avoidance provisions.

The Senate raises the state sales tax from 6.5 percent to 6.8 percent and creates a new "working families tax credit," essentially a new entitlement program.

The House also passed a new tax on custom software development, which the Washington Technology Industry Association describes as...

...a new tax on a whole range of innovative software companies that are at the center of our technology industry. Without any input from industry, the House passed a version of Senate Bill 6143 that includes a new tax on custom software development-a fundamental shift in tax policy that could lead to job losses, business closures and new taxes on other professional services

That one came at the last minute without consultation with the industry - a perfect illustration of the out-of-the-blue risks we face in the special session.

Let your lawmakers know this weekend that you expect them to rein in spending, resist the spending lobby, and adopt policies that stimulate job creation.