OLYMPIA — With the threat of a special session looming, Democratic leaders in the House and Senate will be focusing today on reaching an agreement on how big and how broad of a tax package to put forward this year.
Early this morning, House Democrats passed a bill raising roughly $690 million to cover part of the state’s budget deficit and preserve funding for schools, human services and health care for the poor.
On a 52-45 vote cast at 1:19 a.m., the House approved the 162-page bill that ends exemptions, taxes candy and bottled water, levies an excise tax on airplanes, hikes the business tax paid by lawyers and other professionals, and tacks another $1 on each pack of cigarettes.
Nine Democrats crossed over to join 36 Republicans in opposing the bill.
This morning’s vote ended days of internal divide among Democrats and sets the stage for potentially rough and tumble talks with their colleagues in the Senate — a conversation that could push the Legislature into a special session.
One reason is the House plan doesn’t contain an increase in the sales tax which is the centerpiece of a much large revenue package passed Sunday by the Senate. That $890 million proposal gets more than a third of its revenue from a three-tenths-of-a-penny boost in the sales tax.
There are plenty of Democrats in both chambers who don’t want to mess with the state’s portion of the sales tax, which has not been increased in 27 years. Instead, they want to focus on repealing and reducing tax exemptions.
There also is a split among Democrats on whether the tax packages are too small to sustain targeted programs or too large for the economy to handle.
Several legislators said Monday those differences are too wide to bridge by Thursday, which is the scheduled end of the 60-day session.
In the meantime, Monday night and early today, the deepest differences expressed on the floor of the House were between Democrats and Republicans engaged in a passionate debate on the costs and benefits of raising taxes.
Democrats said last year the Legislature cut deeply into the budgets of schools, colleges and human service programs and while more cuts are planned, they could not erase the state’s entire $2.8 billion deficit solely by spending less on those programs.
“We could not do an all-cuts budget again and go home and face our constituents,” said Rep. Ruth Kagi, D-Lake Forest Park. “It is not a vote any of us wanted to take but it is certainly a vote I am proud to take.”
Republicans criticized Democrats for not working hard enough to reduce the cost of government before pursuing this course. Raising taxes, they said, would hurt families, force companies to lay off workers to survive and deter new companies from coming to Washington.
“We are sending a very negative message that will have very serious consequences,” said Rep. Norma Smith, R-Clinton.
Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com
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