Government for the People??

The Elected Elite Know Best

The results are in for Advisory Vote #37. This vote asked the people whether or not they want to repeal House Bill 5096; a 7% tax on capital gains income. There are a few votes still out, but so far, 63% of Washington voters requested the law be repealed. One would think this would be the end of the new tax; but if history is any indication, the legislature will ignore the voice of the people. Since 2012, the voters have advised our lawmakers to repeal 25 new taxes. In every case, our elected elite believed themselves wiser than the voters of Washington. The people were ignored, and none of the new laws were repealed. So much for our legislators responding to the voice of the people. The voters of Washington, both east and west of the cascades, have voted down repeated legislative proposals for an income tax. The tax on capital gains is an income tax and represents a foot in the door that our money hungry representatives in Olympia will pry open.

Lying to the voters is nothing new in Washington. I was stationed at Fairchild AFB twice and fell in love with the area. I could have settled anywhere. The absence of inheritance and income taxes was a big part of my decision to locate here. That began to change in 1981. Governor Gregoire pushed an estate tax claiming all proceeds would go to schools. A quick look at school funding before and after the new tax reveals no change. It was a lie covered up by an accounting trick. The same exact lie is being told by proponents of the new income tax on capital gains. The claim is that all proceeds will go into the Education Legacy Trust. That is absolutely untrue. All proceeds will go into the general fund to be used where ever will buy the most votes for those representatives running for reelection.

The Governor used a little-known trick to bypass the people when the bill was passed during the last legislative session. Our state Constitution requires a vote of the people to enact new taxes. There is a loophole, however, in those rare emergencies when the new tax is essential to funding our state government. I don’t think this emergency provision has ever been used before. Our state has never been in danger of being underfunded. We, in fact, had as overall budget surplus, but the Governor declared that an emergency funding situation existed and swore the new tax was essential to fund the operations in Olympia. Another blatant lie. Some of the law’s proponents bragged that this was only the beginning of a state income tax.

Our Governor has set himself above the people at every turn during this pandemic. He has gotten use to the power. With the help of liberal judges, he no longer sees any need to respond to the electorate. What happened to government of the people by the people for the people? Our representatives are entrenched. The odds of losing a bid for reelection is pretty slim. Therefor, our elected officials feel free to ignore the will of the people. There has to be a way to change that.

Frank Watson is a retired Air Force Colonel and long-time resident of eastern Washington. He has been a free-lance columnist for over 20 years.