WA Senate Dems pass expanded taxes, snub GOP budget proposal
Washington legislators are entering the final scheduled week of their 2025 regular session.
Over the weekend, majority Democrats in the Senate approved a variety of new and increased taxes as a way to balance the budget.
They voted for changes to the state estate tax, and they voted to impose sales tax on some previously untaxed services.
They also approved more taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products and voted to repeal a variety of tax exemptions.
As senators debated one of the bills, Sen. Chris Gildon (R-Puyallup) tried to force the body to take up the Republican budget.
"We should pull this to the floor today and discuss it because it is the only budget proposal out there that lives within its means, that does not have new and additional taxes, and it fully funds our priorities," he said.
Democrats voted down the motion and went on to pass their proposals. They’ve sent them on to the House for consideration.
One variable is whether Governor Bob Ferguson will support some or all of them.
Last week, he released a statement saying, given the uncertainty at the federal level, the state cannot afford to impose billions in additional taxes.
Outdoor groups plead with feds not to cut SNOTEL jobs
Nearly 50 outdoor and environmental groups are asking the federal government to exempt snow and water supply forecasters from proposed layoffs.
The letter sent to Aubrey Bettencourt, chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, was signed by groups including Idaho Outfitters and Guides Association, Bogus Basin and the Sawtooth Avalanche Center.
Signatories said they’re worried any cuts to the agency’s SNOTEL network could endanger public safety and harm outdoor recreation and western communities.
SNOTEL collects hourly snowpack and weather data from 900 sites in the western U.S. and Alaska.
“...50% of the avalanche forecasting centers in the United States rely on SNOTEL data as their sole source of snowpack and weather information,” the letter states.
River recreationists, like rafters and kayakers, use the data to tell when water levels are too high or too low for clients based on their skill levels.
Aaron Lieberman, who heads the Idaho Outfitters and Guides association, said his members also use SNOTEL and other tools to predict how busy – or how long – their seasons might be.
“That influences how much you spend on marketing and where you’re marketing those opportunities to whom and how much you invest, reinvest in that section of your gear inventory,” Lieberman said.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reported last month the federal agency’s Portland office monitoring Northwest SNOTEL sites lost more than half its staff in the recent nationwide purge.
The letter states probationary employees laid off in February must be rehired for 45 days, but that it’s unclear whether staff can be retained in the long-term.
Recent upgrades to SNOTEL stations, they said, have improved their accuracy.
“These upgrades were made with the expectation that the program would be fully staffed and that stations could be fully maintained,” according to the letter.
A request for comment from the USDA, which oversees the NRCS, wasn’t immediately returned.
Recycling reform closer to passage in WA
It looks like the proposal for a complete overhaul of recycling in Washington will soon become law.
An “extended producer responsibility” bill passed the state house last week.
It’s expected to be signed by the governor after the Senate takes one last look at it.
Heather Trim, Executive Director of Zero Waste Washington, has worked on this policy for the past 6 years.
She said a key aspect is that manufacturers of packaging will pay for 90% of the new system.
"Those producers, as they're called, have been on board for the past couple years, have been very engaged in the policy," Trim said. "They saw the writing on the wall that a bill like this would eventually pass, and they wanted to be at the table to help shape it."
Washington is expected to be the 7th state in the nation with this kind of ‘producer responsibility’ law.
A new non-profit will form to administer the policy. It will expand the system statewide so that any community with trash service will also have recycling service.
It will also set targets for reducing certain kinds of plastics and other non-recyclable items in the waste stream. It’s set to take effect in 2030.
AWB says business concerns over recession and tariffs have risen
A new survey shows more Washington businesses are worried about a recession and higher taxes than just a few months ago.
The Association of Washington Business recently released a quarterly survey of nearly 450 members and found taxes at the top of the list of challenges.
The group’s president, Kris Johnson, said governmental regulations, inflation, health costs and tariffs were the next four.
"The ultimate theme, I think, to this survey is about uncertainty. We have seen all-time high uncertainty at the state level. All-time high uncertainty at the federal level," Johnson told SPR News. "And because of that, it is a great time where we should just pause a moment."
Johnson says nearly one-half of business leaders surveyed expect a recession soon, up from one-in-six in the agency’s last survey at the end of 2024.
Tariffs are also prominent in their thinking. The report says three-fourths are paying more for business supplies.
Nearly one-half report disrupted supply chains and about a quarter say their export markets have been reduced or eliminated.
Another third report raising prices to their customers.
King County Senator dies on trail run
Leaders from across Washington are remembering Issaquah state Senator Bill Ramos after his sudden death over the weekend.
His wife, King County Councilmember Sarah Perry, made the announcement on Facebook Saturday night, saying he died while on a trail run.
“He was doing what he loved – running on one of the many trails near our Issaquah home," Perry wrote in a news release on Sunday. "For Bill, these runs were a way to relieve stress during a busy legislative session, a way to stay active – and exercise our dog Sadie – and a way to reconnect to the forests and hills he loved that shaped his career."
His passing comes just two days after the state Senate passed a bipartisan bill he sponsored to modernize evacuation safety laws to better protect workers and ensure more efficient infrastructure work.
Ramos was 69 years old.
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Reporting by Doug Nadvornick, James Dawson, Bellamy Pailthorp and Owen Henderson.