As a result of the Great Recession, Washington state has taken a significant step backward in funding the key areas that preserve our quality of life and economic prosperity.

Given high unemployment and the ongoing recession, President Obama’s proposal to let the Bush tax cuts for high-income people expire at the end of the year is fiscally responsible. The savings would be approximately $40 billion in 2011 alone.  

This afternoon, the Office of Financial Management (OFM) released fiscal impact estimates for all six of the citizen initiatives slated to appear on the November Ballot.  Their analyses show that four of these initiatives would likely reduce state resources in the coming years, greatly hampering our ability to maintain key public priorities like health care and education while the economy recovers.  Initiative 1098, on the other hand, would generate new resources for health care and education via a new tax on high incomes while lowering taxes for homeowners and small businesses. 

Update (Aug. 10, 2010): The U.S. House joined the Senate in approving this critical aid to states.

Initiative 1107 would repeal several common taxes on nonessential items like candy and soda. The measure would also reopen two wasteful business and occupation (B&O) tax loopholes that were closed during the 2010 legislative session.