In The News

OLYMPIA – Senate Democrats have unveiled a plan to raise billions of dollars amid a deep budget shortfall by taxing Washington’s wealthiest residents through what is called a “financial intangibles tax,” allowing property tax increases to be set by inflation and population growth, and removing the cap on employer payroll taxes. The plan also calls on the state to reduce the ...

OLYMPIA – Washington would require clergy members to report incidents of child abuse or neglect under legislation to designate them as mandatory reporters cleared the state Senate Friday. Legislators have considered adding clergy to the list of mandatory reporters in recent years, though the efforts have ultimately stalled. Washington is one of five states that does not designate clergy as mandatory reporters. ...

Let the tax debate begin in Olympia. Democrats in the Washington state Senate kicked it off Thursday with a monstrous opening statement, calling for higher property tax collections and new levies on the state’s wealthiest individuals and largest corporations. They also pitched a half-cent cut in the sales tax to assuage concerns about costs for consumers. Their proposals, if enacted, would ...

OLYMPIA — Senate Democrats want to tax Washington’s wealthiest and are calling for a half-cent sales tax cut to reduce the burden on consumers as part of their sweeping package of new revenue proposals. The tax package, released Thursday ahead of the anticipated release of the operating budget proposal for the 2025-27 biennium, comes after a new budget outlook estimates the ...

As Washington faces a budget gap somewhere in the multi-billions, state lawmakers have brainstormed ways to close it. Two days after receiving a less-than-sunny revenue forecast, Senate Democrats revealed a five-part tax proposal — one that supporters say would ask ultra-wealthy residents to pay their fair share. Released Thursday morning, the new revenue plan for the next biennium’s operating budget ...

OLYMPIA, Wash. – State Senate Democrats on Thursday released a few ideas to bring in more money to balance the state budget, including taxes on wealthy individuals and businesses, increasing property taxes and decreasing the state sales tax. They had been long expected to propose wealth taxes to close the state’s multi-billion dollar budget gap over the next four years. They ...

OLYMPIA, Wash. — As Washington state budget writers work on proposals for balancing the budget, demonstrators Monday called for tax increases to be part of the plan. Several hundred state employees, teachers, and parents rallied on the Capitol steps Monday afternoon. Bronti Lemke told the crowd how state-funded child care helped her raise her son Ashton, while she was battling addiction and ...

The Washington state Senate approved a bill on Friday that requires religious leaders to serve as mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect. Advocates believe this legislation is essential for safeguarding children, particularly against sexual abuse, while critics warn it could have unintended negative consequences. Senate Bill 5375 stipulates that members of the clergy will be classified as mandatory reporters, similar ...

There are few areas of lawmaking as fraught with the competing tensions between rights and responsibilities than those involving religion, a necessary result of the constitutional freedom that the First Amendment guarantees for Americans’ exercise of faith. That tension between rights and responsibilities has been on painful display this legislative session as state lawmakers again consider a bill that would add ...