As noted by Benjamin Franklin, “in this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.” For some taxpayers in just a few states, that quote can be changed to include taxes for dying as well. Washington is one of just 12 states that impose an est...

For months I’ve been asking the Department of Revenue (DOR) if it plans to collect the capital gains income tax that was ruled unconstitutional by an Inslee-appointed judge on March 1. The answer has consistently been: “That decision has not bee...

Nine hundred and seventy five days later, the Governor’s emergency orders related to COVID-19 are finally ending after today. Now begins the next steps for legislative reforms and a court date before the state Supreme Court. The state Supreme Court a...

The Citizen Action Defense Fund (CADF), a local government watchdog nonprofit in our state that files lawsuits, sent the Department of Revenue (DOR) a letter today demanding the agency stop its rule-making activities to implement the capital gains in...

OLYMPIA–Unless the legislature decides to step in and require transparency for state government employee compensation talks, they will continue to be conducted in secret based on an agreement the Governor's office recently reached with union official...

Governor Inslee announced today that he will finally end governing under an emergency order, after more than 900 days, on October 31. When the legislature next convenes it should ensure that this type of ongoing emergency governance without...

On February 29, 2020, Governor Inslee issued a declaration of an emergency related to the COVID pandemic. Since then, the Governor has issued numerous emergency orders either waiving various laws and/or imposing restrictions on citizens and...

The Washington Education Association (WEA) on June 30 filed a legal brief with the state supreme court in the capital gains income tax case asking the justices to change their prior rulings and now declare that income isn’t property (meaning you d...

Proponents of the unconstitutional capital gains income tax are working overtime to prevent voters from weighing in. First, there was the game last year with the emergency clause to prevent a referendum. Now capital gains income tax supporters are...

We can now add the Attorney General’s Office to the list of state officials apparently ignoring the Douglas County Superior Court ruling that unequivocally said the capital gains tax is an unconstitutional income tax, not an excise tax. Despite t...

When a court rules that a tax is “is declared unconstitutional and invalid and, therefore, is void and inoperable as a matter of law,” what happens next? One would think that means efforts by state officials to put the tax in place would be sto...

OLYMPIA–A lot happened in the final hours of session. One thing that may have gone under the radar was a ruling by Lt. Governor Denny Heck that creates the potential for significant anti-transparent legislative games to be played in conference c...

OLYMPIA–Sorry to break the news, Washingtonians, but year three of living under emergency orders by the Governor will continue just as the last two years have–without meaningful legislative oversight. The House yesterday officially killed SB 590...

A bill scheduled for a public hearing next week (HB 1727) would ban citizen ballot measures in odd years, but still allow local governments to call special elections to increase taxes. A similar bill was proposed in 2020. Former Secretary of State Ki...

In a 7-2 ruling this morning the State Supreme Court said the partial vetoes the Governor made in the 2019 transportation budget were unconstitutional. When issuing those vetoes the Governor said: “While my veto authority is generally limited to s...

By Jason Mercier TVW recently held a Q&A event between students and the Governor discussing various topics. The full interview is worth watching. Topics included dam breaching, homelessness, climate policy, police reform and vaccine mandates. One...

Washington state ranks among the bottom for states that provide legislative oversight of executive emergency powers. What’s Washington doing wrong? We explore the problem and need for reform in this new video (WPC video here). In an emergency, g...

Cities across Washington are acting to ban a local income tax. In one example, this November voters in the city of Yakima will consider ballot measure Proposition 3, a charter amendment that would prohibit city officials from imposing a local income...

As more cities act to ban a local income tax, detractors claim this effort to protect taxpayers is a waste of time. I really wish there wasn’t a concerted effort to bring the state of Washington and its cities an income tax. Unfortunately, t...

While we wait for the capital gains income tax litigation to work its way through the courts, the University of Washington’s Law School has posted an interesting video: “Three-minute Legal Tips: Capital Gains Tax.” The video is a short inter...

By Jason Mercier The City of Battle Ground could soon join Spokane, Granger and Spokane Valley in banning a local income tax. At its July 19 meeting the city council will consider Resolution Number 21-07 (Regarding Opposition To A Local Income Tax On...

Washington’s long delay to re-opening has seemed very arbitrary. There isn’t anything scientific about June 30 in the fight against COVID but hitting that date on the calendar is the trigger necessary for the Governor to finally join 48 other sta...

OLYMPIA–The Thurston County Superior Court issued a ruling last Friday (June 11) in the lawsuit the Secretary of State filed against the Governor for clarification on how to handle his simultaneous two-handed and off-camera signings of two b...