Note: The following e-newsletter was sent to Sen. Jeff Wilson’s subscribers Feb. 9, 2024. To subscribe to Sen. Wilson’s updates from Olympia, click here.

 

I was proud to join the Senate Republican Caucus yesterday in a press conference highlighting the expected vote on Senate Bill 5770. But the vote never happened, and I think it showed how powerful the people are when they speak. You can see this news conference by clicking here.

 

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Ready for some good news from Olympia? We learned this afternoon that a proposal for a massive increase in property taxes has died of embarrassment. Our friends in the Senate Democratic majority thought this would be a fine year for what would have been the biggest tax increase the Legislature has ever passed. But then they found out what the public thought of the idea, they noticed it was an election year, and they had second thoughts.

This is the way things ought to work. Some 9,000 people signed in when Senate Bill 5770 was heard in committee, and 92 percent were opposed. I heard from hundreds of people. I can only imagine what it was like in the offices of the 18 Democratic sponsors who thought this was a good idea.

This measure would have allowed local property taxes to grow three times faster than they already do. Right now we have a 1 percent limit on annual growth in property taxes – anything more than that requires a public vote. Influential city and county lobbying organizations didn’t want to have to ask you for the money. This bill would have raised the limit to 3 percent, and your property taxes would have skyrocketed.

In the midst of an affordable housing crisis, housing would have become even less affordable. After 10 years, this would have been a $6 billion increase – and it would have kept on climbing, year after year, because each year’s increase would build on the last. The worst part is this tax increase isn’t necessary. Local government taxes have been increasing faster than inflation and population growth. The real problem is that government keeps finding new ways to spend money.

Pure people power

I stood with my fellow Republicans in the Senate against this bill, but we weren’t the ones who killed it. The credit goes to you, and to everyone else across the state who told Olympia that enough is enough. I wish things worked this way on every terrible bill the Legislature has passed over the last few years.

What happened here shows there is hope. The people of Washington are telling us they will not be ignored. This session they have presented the Legislature with six initiatives to overturn the worst legislation our colleagues have pushed through in recent years – higher taxes, increased gas prices, weaker police and greater government control over our lives. If the Legislature doesn’t pass them before March 7, they go to the November ballot and the voters will have the final say. I stand back this year and watch in humility as the people roar. I am proud to be your servant.

Standing up against the biggest tax hike in state history: With Sens. Keith Wagoner and Chris Gildon at Thursday news conference.

 

Thanks for reading — it is an honor serving you.

 

 

 

Sen. Jeff Wilson

19th Legislative District

 

Contact me!

Telephone: (360) 786-7636

Email: Jeff.Wilson@leg.wa.gov

Mailing address: P.O. Box 40419 /Olympia, WA 98504

Leave a message on the Legislative Hotline: 1-800-562-6000

To unsubscribe from these regular updates from Olympia, go to the Subscriber Preferences Page below.