Gov. Inslee in Controversial Letter to Supporters Urges: ‘Students Over Tax Breaks’

A recent email letter sent out by Gov. Inslee is ruffling a few feathers, especially in the business community. Newstalk 870 has a copy.

The letter, sent ahead of the start of the legislative special session that kicks off Monday in Olympia begins, "Dear Supporter," and asks readers to click on two different links to be included in a list of people who support his Working Washington plan. From the letter:

Budgets reflect who we are. They force us to make tough choices about what's important so we can make the most of limited resources.

As we get ready for the special session to start on Monday, my priorities remain the same -- rebuilding Washington's economy and making good on our moral and legal obligation to our schools. We are setting the stage going into this special session -- framing the terms of the debate and putting ourselves in a position to achieve real progress for our kids and the economy. Now we need to bring this home.

 

"Budgets reflect who we are."  No, they reflect a legislature that cannot seem to control its spending, and governors (Gregoire included) who fought citizens tooth and nail over tax hikes. You may recall the numerous initiatives to repeal or stop tax hikes voters passed -- only to have Gregoire push them through the legislature anyway.

More from the letter:

I'm proud that the Working Washington budget priorities I proposed put fulfilling our moral and constitutional duty to our students ahead of tax breaks. Now I need your help to let the legislators know that Washingtonians want a responsible, sustainable budget that rebuilds our economy, protects critical services, and meets our responsibility to our children.

First, the problem here is the state Supreme Court overstepped its bounds several years ago, according to numerous legal critics, by mandating the state meet specific funding levels for public schools regardless of deficits or actual needs.

Second, Inslee favors a budget similar to that which was proposed by the Democrat-controlled state House. It would enact at least 16 new taxes by either repealing existing tax breaks, or extending what were supposed to be temporary taxes passed under former Gov. Chris Gregoire.

Newstalk 870 reported this week an extensive study of the House budget shows it would not only create far more government jobs than private sector employment, the new tax burdens would kill thousands more private sector jobs.

More from the letter:

These decisions and negotiations are not easy, but that's why I ran for governor -- to do everything I can to make sure our priorities reflect the kind of state we want to live in.