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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
We are over halfway through the legislative session!
Tuesday evening was the deadline for most bills, except for budget matters, to be voted out of the chamber they started in. So, House bills had to be voted out of the House, and Senate bills had to be voted out of the Senate.
We are back in committee to hear Senate bills and budgetary matters before returning to the House floor to vote.
Drug crisis: Our state should prioritize policies that help instead of harm
I went on KXL radio’s Lars Larson to talk about how drug policies in our state are killing people with kindness.
For example, I opposed House Bill 1574 because it wouldn’t allow the police to enforce an active warrant if someone overdosed, and it would expand access to drug paraphernalia, including clean needles.
These programs don’t reduce deaths! We have 3,000 drug-related deaths per year in Washington.
Unfortunately, this kind of policy is pervasive in Washington. It’s a misguided attempt at kindness, but we end up enabling people.
Washington’s first income tax: Bill scheduled for public hearing Tuesday
Senate Bill 6346 would create Washington state’s first income tax by taxing people making over $1 million (adjusted gross income) at 9.9%.
The House Finance Committee has scheduled the bill for a public hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 8 AM.
- Ensure your position on the bill is noted by the committee by clicking here.
- You can also sign up to testify or submit your written testimony for the hearing.
I am concerned about this bill because it:
- Ignores the voters’ will. Washingtonians have rejected an income tax 10 times, and the majority party just voted down an amendment to send this tax proposal to voters.
- Creates what is basically a family penalty tax because the income threshold is for individuals and households.
- Affects businesses set up as partnerships and S corporations.
- Lays the groundwork for a potential future expansion. Majority party leaders have already signaled their intent to broaden the tax in the future, which would hit more Washington families. We’ve already seen this happen with the capital gains tax, the estate tax, and recording fees.
- Chills business expansion. In a recent poll, nearly half of business leaders say they are considering moving their personal homes out of state, and 30% say they would expand their businesses outside Washington.
The state shouldn’t control locally elected sheriffs: Bill scheduled for public hearing Monday
Senate Bill 5974 strips authority from locally elected sheriffs and voters while giving unnecessary control to the state.
The bill is scheduled for a public hearing in the House Community Safety Committee on Monday, Feb. 23, at 1:30 PM.
- Ensure your position on the bill is noted by the committee by clicking here.
- You can also sign up to testify or submit your written testimony for the hearing.
You can still state your position on the bill after the Monday hearing.
I oppose this bill because it:
- Disqualifies sheriff candidates from appearing on the ballot unless they are deemed “suitable for employment” by the governor-appointed Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC) and by meeting statutory requirements.
- Gives power to the unelected CJTC to decertify and remove an elected sheriff from office for many reasons, notably speech.
- Compromises law enforcement capabilities and public safety by restricting the roles of volunteers, youth cadets, and specially commissioned peace officers.
- Allows housing male and female inmates in the same jail cell.
The state should trust local communities to elect and oversee their own sheriffs.
Remembering the unjust internment of Japanese-Americans during Word War II
I had the honor of speaking on the House floor on Thursday for Remembrance Day, which annually observes the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
I encourage you to listen to my floor speech.
I spoke about what happened in our state after President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, designating that Japanese-Americans be placed in “exclusion areas,” on Feb. 19, 1942.
- In Puyallup, the euphemistically named Camp Harmony was hastily constructed. One young adult I read about stated, “Of one thing I was sure – The wire fence was real. I no longer had the right to walk out of it.”
- Although some were against the Roosevelt policy and tried to help their Japanese-American sisters and brothers, too many others turned a blind eye to their plight.
- The 442nd Regimental Combat Team, composed almost completely of Japanese-Americans, was a heroic force and the most decorated unit in U.S. military history.
The next time you visit the Puyallup Fairgrounds, take time to view the remembrance gallery honoring those who were held in Puyallup by sharing their stories. Let us never forget.
Don’t raid retiree pensions to fund the already well-funded Climate Commitment Act
Lastly, I voted against House Bill 2034, which raids the Law Enforcement Officers’ and Firefighters’ Retirement System Plan 1 (LEOFF 1) by depositing $569 million of the fund’s assets into the Climate Commitment Account (CCA).
The CCA has already brought over $4.3 billion into state coffers. Plus, the governor’s proposed budget relies on transferring funds from the account to help plug the state budget hole.
I introduced an amendment on the House floor to instead move money into the state’s older retirement plans for public workers, Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) Plan 1 and Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) Plan 1, so that retirees in those plans receive yearly benefit increases similar to what retirees in the newer Plans 2 already receive.
Unfortunately, the majority voted down my proposal.
I don’t agree with the pension raid at all. If the majority insists on doing it, the money should at least go to help our public retirees who worked for many years to keep the state government running and educate our kids.
These retirement plans have not been offered to public employees for many years, and many of the retirees covered by them are struggling with inflation, our state’s high cost of living, and the lack of consistent cost-of-living increases.
I spoke on the House floor in support of my amendments and against the bill.
Thank you for taking the time to read my legislative update, and I hope you and your family have a good weekend.
Please contact me if you would like to discuss anything you read about.
Sincerely,
Cyndy Jacobsen
