On Friday, Governor Gregoire signed the two-bill revenue package passed by the Legislature earlier this month without veto.
Both bills are expected to generate $757 million in revenue through 2013. Senate Bill 6143 modified excise tax laws to preserve funding for public schools, colleges and universities, as well as other public systems essential for the safety, health, and security of Washington.
House Bill 2493 increased taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products.
Today another key staffer to Governor Gregoire announced her departure from the Governor’s Office.
Robin Arnold-Williams served as head of the Governor’s Executive Policy Office. She has been in this role since December 2008 and will leave at the end of April. No replacement has been named at this time.
Arnold-Williams shared that it was a time for a break from a long public-service career.
Arnold-Williams departure comes after the recent resignation of Linda Bremer as Director of General Administration and Joyce Turner’s move to Director of General Administration from Gregoire’s Deputy Chief of Staff. Both of these moves come after several internal changes in the Governor’s staff including Director of the Office of Financial Management and the Governor’s Chief of Staff.
This afternoon Governor Gregoire signed into law Senate Bill 6130.
Senate Bill 6130 temporarily suspends tax-limiting Initiative 960 in its entirety. From the effective date through July 1, 2011, any action or combination of actions by the Legislature that raises taxes may be taken with the approval of a majority of members elected to each house of the Legislature.
Senate Bill 6130 is effective immediately.
This afternoon Governor Gregorie, in a letter to members of the Washington Legislature, asked policymakers to close tax loopholes and raise “sin” taxes to generate $605 million in additional state revenues for the current biennium.
Gregoire’s plan reaches the $605 million mark by increasing taxes on products including refined oil, bottled-water, carbonated beverages, cigarettes, candy and gum.
The largest of the increases applies to toxic and hazardous materials which would triple the current toxics tax from 0.7 percent to 2 percent, raising $148 million for general fund programs in the next year and $67 million for city and county storm-water projects around the state. In addition, the following increases were also proposed:
In addition to raising taxes on specific products, Gregoire supports moves to close tax loopholes. Specifically, she cited closing tax loopholes that favor out-of-state businesses, raising $73 million; eliminating a business tax break for gold bullion dealers; and repeal ing a tax credit for syrup taxes.
Governor Gregorie addressed the state this afternoon in her annual State of the State. In her address she called out the challenges Washington has and continues to face combined with solutions that Washington should explore to move the state forward.
Gregoire argued that jobs are the way out of this recession for Washington and Washingtonians. She proposed the creation of 40,000 new jobs this year.
How will this be done? By attracting $2 billion in investments, building on a long tradition in Washington of attracting capital and intellectual investments, especially in areas such as biotechnology, health care, and clean energy.
In addition, the Governor is supporting an employee tax credit for each full-time hire a business makes, an investment in a green building program focused on retrofitting, and efforts in streamlining permit processes.
Governor Gregoire also spoke to streamlining government. Included in this effort is the elimination of over 70 boards and proposed legislation to eliminate several more. In addition, she proposed merging state agencies and moving programs to better align missions and service to citizens and communities.
Finally, she asked the Legislature to budget with Washingtonians in mind. She urged the Legislature to meet Washingtonians half way and reach out to the vulnerable, especially those who need the most.
Governor Gregoire stated that the balanced budget proposed in December closes the door to higher education to 12,300 students. She called for the restoration of the State Need Grant, the provision of tuition setting flexibility to ensure the competitiveness of higher education institutions, and the appropriation of dollars for worker training at the community and technical colleges.
She closed by stating that she plans to release a budget this afternoon that includes revenue options to offset the all-cuts budget released in December, which will include federal dollars, tax revenues, or a combination of both.
Governor Gregoire’s December 9th supplemental budget proposal fulfilled a state constitutional requirement that the spending scenario not exceed available revenues. While suggesting that without new revenue, the cuts Washington State needs to incur would test Washingtonians’ closely-held values, the Governor challenged citizens and administrators statewide to respond with creative solutions.
In an email to the Evergreen community, President Les Purce emphasized the threat posed to the College by the budget scenario. He highlighted the fact that this early proposal represents the beginning of a process that will continue in upcoming months. He also specifically outlined the potential damage: the permanent $4 million reduction in state support to the College and the deep cuts to the State Need Grant:
Statewide, 77,000 students rely on the State Need Grant. The Governor’s proposal would change eligibility requirements to remove more than 12,000 students from the program and cut the level of grant for the remaining students almost in half. At Evergreen, more than 1300 resident undergraduate students – 41% of our resident undergraduates – currently rely on the State Need Grant for at least a portion of their total cost of attendance. The average size of the grant is about $4,200. While the Governor has indicated her desire to restore funding for student financial aid in a budget proposal she will release in January, the final impact on specific students will not be known until the legislature completes its work at the end of March.
The College “will be using our budget cut scenarios from last year as a starting point for decision making” in an effort to underline the already devastating cuts enacted with the 2009/2011 operating budget. Discussions are ongoing as to how Evergreen can continue to manage those previous cuts with a view to preserving our current funding. Further cuts will threaten fundamental aspects of the Evergreen experience, by drastically affecting students’ ability to attend and pay for college and Evergreen’s ability to provide instructional and student services at sustainable levels.