It’s hard to shock me these days, but the ability of some in Olympia to take the taxpayers to the cleaners just managed to do it. Recently, Governor Jay Inslee signed legislation resulting in more than a billion dollars of unnecessary new taxes, putting the cherry on top of what has been called a “Taxapalooza.” In doing so, he put his approval on a budget that grew 18% and is unsustainable.

As the Tri-City Herald put it in an editorial, “The lack of transparency, the numerous new taxes, the dismantling of the state school equity plan puts the 2019 session on the bottom rung…And the way Dems purposely by-passed the public process on the road to new revenue was, frankly, offensive.”

To make matters worse, the governor rejected calls from lawmakers, journalists and taxpayers to veto an increase in the budget for his security detail, given that many suspected the increase is due mainly to governor’s presidential travels. Why should Washington state taxpayers be on the hook for Inslee’s elaborate job interview to go back to the other Washington? The governor should have his campaign cover the cost. 

It’s not all bad news these days, and you can read more about some of the good news coming out of Olympia and D.C. in the following Report from Olympia.