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Heavy-handed policies could
harm businesses, kill jobs
By Rep.
Joel Kretz
Here we go again. Last year, Seattle-centric legislators decided it
would be a good idea to tax families on the engine size of their cars.
The measure, Senate Bill 6900, would have charged the average family
driving a pick-up truck an additional $400 in car tab tax per year. The
aim of the proposal was to address “climate change” by discouraging
folks from driving larger cars. Folks from the 7th District, including
me, successfully fought to kill the bill.
This year, the
bill may be different, but scheming ways to increase taxes under the
guise of addressing climate change is the same. This year’s tax hike
measure,
House Bill 1819, was requested by the governor. Also called the “cap
and trade” bill, it would create an incredibly complex system to
regulate and tax businesses based on carbon emissions and manipulate
individual behavior with higher fuel costs and vehicle taxes. It could
also triple energy prices. Why anyone would want to push this job-killer
through, especially in these tough times, is beyond me.
Has it escaped
the supporters of new taxes that families are losing their homes and
jobs? This bill would create financial hardships on families already
stretched thin. The federal Congressional Budget Office estimates the
effects of a cap and trade system will cost low-income families about
$750 a year. I cannot support any bill that would raise taxes, increase
fees or kill jobs in this fragile economy.
I call the
governor’s proposal the “cap and tax” bill. It basically gives
unprecedented and unrestrained powers to the Department of Ecology
(DOE). The agency would have the authority to decide what rules,
regulations and taxes should be put in place to force businesses and
individuals to comply with House Bill 1819.
Giving the DOE
unilateral control to implement costly rules and new taxes is bad policy
and reeks of Chicago-style corruption. By the way, I hear Illinois
Governor Rod Blagojevich is looking for work. Perhaps our governor could
tap him to bring his “style” of politics to our state to enforce this
heavy-handed cap and tax program.
Rural folks have
seen enough “Chicken Little the-sky-is-falling-so-we-must-tax-you-more”
types of environmental hysteria. Whether the latest eco-fad is about
saving the last tree, spotted owl, wolf or snarter-darter, environmental
groups and government agencies have an insatiable appetite for taking
your money and using it to grow government bureaucracy.
In all of the
governor’s rhetoric about the “green-jobs” her bill would create, no
one, including the governor, has addressed the thousands of blue-collar
jobs that will be lost if her bill passes. It’s an empty promise to say
green-collar jobs will grow on trees if the cap and tax bill is passed.
I have one question about all these green jobs: Will they pop up in our
district before or after all the mills close and families are out of
work and have lost their homes?
The fact is, the
governor’s cap and tax bill begrudgingly admits there will be a negative
financial impact on low- and fixed-income citizens. That seems to me to
be a clear admission that it will also impact middle-class folks, which
includes most of us. Her solution? Create more bureaucracy and a new
entitlement program.
We can’t afford
more of Seattle’s good ideas that hurt our rural communities the most.
Taking money from citizens and businesses through this cap and tax
scheme, or any other “climate change” boondoggle, to give it to
government is not economic development – it’s wealth distribution.
Government should
not be in the business of deciding winners and losers and her bill would
do just that. Our country was made great through liberty and ingenuity,
not government bureaucracy. I vote for a tea party. Who’s with me?
Folks who would
like to weigh in on this bill can contact my office at (360) 786-7988 or
e-mail me at
kretz.joel@leg.wa.gov. The first hearing on House Bill 1819 was Feb.
3.
# # #
Rep. Joel Kretz, R-Wauconda, is the deputy leader of the
House Republican Caucus. He serves on the House Ecology and Parks,
Agriculture and Natural Resources, Environmental Health and Rules
committees.
For more information, contact:
Bobbi Cussins, Public Information Officer: (360) 786-7252
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