Budget & Taxes

2022 Legislative session wrap-up
March 11, 2022
Dear Neighbor, The 2022 Legislative session has now come to an end and it has certainly been an extremely busy one.  As the matter of fact, during this short 60-day session, Senators introduced 560 bills and 239 of them passed out of the chamber.  For comparison, this is almost identical... Read More...
Session midpoint: Good, Interesting and Controversial bills
February 10, 2022
Dear Neighbor, It’s hard to believe that we are halfway through this year’s legislative session. While things continue to be mostly virtual, there was a recent rule change allowing more Senate members on the floor of the chamber when voting on legislation. This update comes at the point during session... Read More...
Legislative video – WA CARES Fund
July 29, 2021
I recently shared background on the  WA Cares Fund and the payroll tax that comes along with it. Watch my video above to learn about some of the questions I’ve been receiving and what you need to know before this program is implemented! Read More...
WA Cares Fund – new payroll tax coming soon!
June 30, 2021
Dear Neighbor, As Washington State reopens its doors fully again, I thought it appropriate to send a short update on the state of our economy, the job market, and the impending payroll tax for long-term care known as the Washington Cares Fund. How did Washington’s economy weather the pandemic? According... Read More...
Legislature addresses Supreme Court ruling on drug possession
April 14, 2021
Dear friends and neighbors, Through my legislative updates this year, I’ve shared information with you on a wide variety of topics being discussed in Olympia this session. From climate legislation, testifying remotely, taxes proposals and emergency powers, this legislative session has been one for the history books! Today I want... Read More...
It is budget season in Olympia!
April 01, 2021
As we enter the home stretch of the 2021 legislative session, lawmakers’ focus will turn to one thing – budgets. In odd numbered years, the legislature is required to create and pass three budgets: the Operating budget, Transportation budget, and the Capital budget. Today I’m going share highlights of each... Read More...
Legislative video – Capital Gains Income Tax update
March 11, 2021
Check out this week’s video where I share an update on the passage of Senate Bill 5096, which is the Capital Gains Income Tax. I’ve spoken about the strategic objective of this Income tax previously and you can view it here. I’d also encourage you to voice your support for or... Read More...
Working together during a virtual session
March 04, 2021
One thing you may not know about the legislative process is that it is very social. Lawmakers collaborate with staff, the public, stakeholders and each other to craft bills that ultimately become law. Working virtually this year has not made this intricate process any easier. Over the last few weeks,... Read More...
2021 Legislative session: good, controversial and interesting bills
February 19, 2021
We’ve made it to cutoff! It’s hard to believe that we’re one-third of the way through this year’s legislative session. While things definitely look different in 2021, the legislative process is still the same and this Monday was the policy “cutoff.” This means all Senate bills that are policy-related and... Read More...