Sadly, once the coronavirus tsunami has taken those near and dear to us, a second wave, the coup d’ gras if you will, will take Washingtonians to their knees in the form of debilitating tax increases that Gov. Inslee will enact.
The past few years have seen our state’s economy bustling and unprecedented tax revenues rolling in. Yet Inslee raised property taxes by 14 percent, the largest single increase in our state’s history. Now imagine the devastating impact that COVID-19 will have on our revenues.
Once the outbreak has receeded, we must move on to other pressing matters. The first being we need to change the way our state negotiates state employee and teacher contracts. Currently, the governor has that responsibility and, in my opinion, he has abused that privilege. A case in point, after his gubernatorial election he raised the above-mentioned taxes. He then, in a quid-pro-quo, turned around and gave union-run teachers and state workers double digit pay increases. It is painfully obvious that we need an outside source to take care of these duties as is done in other states.
The second and most important thing that needs to be done is to replace the “tax and spend” mentality in Olympia. We need honest, fiscally responsible candidates and then Washingtonians need to focus on what’s good for the state, rather then blindly voting for a party that doesn’t meet their needs anymore.
Come November we have an enormous responsibility. Business as usual will take us down for the last count, in the form of a tidal wave of debt.
Ron Kalina
Camano Island
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