The state government’s daily routine isn’t something most of us find interesting enough to be appointment TV. But what if we told you that this time around more than any other in years has the potential to smack your wallet so hard it’ll think it just encountered Will Smith on a nationally televised broadcast with the wrong word in its mouth? Yeah, things suddenly got a whole lot more interesting!
Here are Five Fast Facts on what to expect from Washington State lawmakers in 2025:
- 👀 First Time - This year state lawmakers have to deal with a huge hole in the budget, something that hasn’t happened in years! Some argue about what exactly is causing the hole, of course. In a completely unrelated bit of info, there’s absolutely no debate about state spending literally doubling over the last decade. Dots, meet straight line.
- 📈 A Taxing Solution - Many of the same lawmakers who decided state spending and tax increases were the best way out of a terrible and inflated economy now say the solution is to raise taxes even more. Your tax dollars are the solution to all their problems! But small businesses – the heart of the state’s economy – are already declining, and higher taxes will only speed that decline more.
- 😣 A Better Way - Rather than punishing tax increases on already-stressed families and businesses, state lawmakers should try to grow the number of taxpayers rather than make current taxpayers pay more. Bring in more high tech manufacturing, research and development through tax incentives, and generate more energy rather than less so it can be used to drive the economy forward! All of these things have been proven to work over and over.
- 👀 Look Back To Move Ahead - In recent memory, other solutions have closed budget gaps without tax increases. For example, in both 2002 and 2008, pay raises for state employees were frozen. No tax rates were harmed in either case.
- 📅 When It Happens - This session started on January 13th and goes through April 27th, so the bickering is only recently underway, and there’s plenty more bickering to be done before we see what happens.
🔥Bottom line: Will lawmakers continue the current course and tighten the tax screws on all of us even more, or turn the page and try something new to give us some relief? Your tax dollars (and your Paychecks) want to know! Either way, we’ll keep you posted.
What do you think the solution is?
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