Today, I had a briefing on how COVID-19 is impacting the state’s economy. The state’s Chief Economist unsurprisingly delivered some pretty devastating news.
You can read the full report by clicking here.
Author Archives: Laudan
Sen. Phil Fortunato explains why the state needs to cut spending, now! Washington state’s COVID-19 response will leave the state budget in tatters come January. Hopefully leaders will do the right thing
Sen. Phil Fortunato sent a letter to the governor demanding that the state reconsider how businesses are deemed essential. The impacts of stopping private construction is devastating to workers and their families, to the industry and will have significant impacts on the state’s budget.
March 27, 2020
Jay Inslee
Office of the Governor
PO Box 40002
Olympia, WA 985004-0002
Governor Inslee,
I call on you to immediately amend your March 23, 2020, “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order to include firearm-related businesses and shooting ranges in the list of businesses and industries in the “Essential Workforce Critical Workers” list.
The order allows businesses that provide services “necessary to maintain the safety and sanitation of residences,” as well as “all facilities used by law enforcement personnel,” to remain open. If breweries, wineries, and cannabis stores are considered “essential” to the daily lives of Washingtonians during the COVID-19 crisis, then surely firearms-related businesses and shooting ranges must rank at an even higher level of importance.
Firearms-related businesses and shooting ranges provide critical supplies to law enforcement and security, not to mention ensuring that hard-working Washingtonians have access to products and training needed to defend themselves and their families. Washington residents that are currently authorized to lawfully purchase a firearm are guaranteed that “access” by the Washington State Constitution. (Article I, Section 24 of the Washington State Constitution, which states: “the right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired.”).
I implore you to respect a fundamental tenant of the state constitution, and reconsider your decision.
Sincerely,
Senator Phil Fortunato
31st Legislative District
Greetings Friends and Neighbors,
I hope that you are doing well and staying safe and healthy. I have urgent news to share regarding the state’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
While most Washingtonians have been doing their part to take personal precautions, the spread and severity of this virus is still a significant threat. That’s why Governor Inslee issued a new order called “Stay Home, Stay Healthy.”
It went into effect immediately and implements a ban on all public and private gatherings – even weddings and funerals. In addition, the order requires the closure of all non-essential businesses within 48 hours, which means this evening. Here is a link to the businesses and industries considered essential. You can click here to read the order itself.
This is no time for politics, but I do have some concerns about the government determining what’s essential and what isn’t. If a business or service isn’t on that list but think they may be essential, they can email business@mil.wa.gov to get clarification, or to petition to be added.
It’s drastic, but to use a phrase that has become common, these are unprecedented times.
Here are some additional resources for those affected by the COVID-19 response.
- COVID-19 public health information.
- Updates from the governor’s office.
- Resources for businesses and workers.
- Childcare and Public Schools.
This won’t be easy – it will have a huge impact on our state’s economy and lives of our citizens. However, I’m confident that we can come together and emerge from this stronger.
It is an honor to serve you and my office is here to help you with any questions you may have about your state government.
Sincerely,
Phil Fortunato,
Your 31st District State Senator
Recent changes in the state’s property tax, added pressures from local tax levies and rising home values mean more people are struggling to pay their property taxes. That is why state Sen. Phil Fortunato, R-Auburn, and the Senate Republican Caucus are pushing to amend the state’s constitution to restructure Washington’s property tax aimed at relief for homeowners.
Modeled after California’s successful Proposition 13, Senate Joint Resolution 8219 would freeze property valuations as of Jan. 1, 2020, and not be recalculated until there is a change of ownership.
“The state has seen record growth in its budget at the expense of taxpayers around the state. We’ve reached a point now that is unsustainable for the very people that fund government and they need relief,” said Fortunato. “Not only are people unable to afford getting into a home, they’re quickly being taxed out of them. During my time in the Senate, the state has raked in billions more than we expected and spent it all on everything but what Washingtonians are clamoring for – tax relief.”
Fortunato’s proposal is aimed at helping people stay in their homes by capping the growth of property taxes paid to the state to a more affordable point when the home is purchased.
“By changing our constitution this way, we are giving homeowners certainty they deserve. It will put a check on out-of-control spending and do what the Legislature has been unwilling or unable to do,” Fortunato said. “The sad thing is that some decision makers in Olympia can’t be trusted. I voted for historic funding changes to our schools that gave over 70% of property owners a tax cut, only to have the majority betray that and fling the door wide-open to additional tax increases. That’s unacceptable. We should enshrine this principle of fiscal restraint in our state’s constitution.”
Greetings from Olympia,
It’s been awhile since I last sent out an update but have tried to keep folks apprised of what’s happening in Olympia via my legislative Facebook. You may have noticed that in our first round of voting in the Senate, I was marked ‘excused.’ A couple of weeks back, I was admitted to the hospital with some abdominal pain. It turned out to be nothing serious, but I was out for just over a week. The good news is that I’ve been back and have hit the ground running.
Budget season
There have been a few big-ticket items that I’d like to comment on. First, we had news recently that the state revenue continues to grow. Without doing anything, revenue collections are up $1.5 billion more than anticipated. This is on top of the billion-dollar tax bill (the first bill signed into law of the 2020 session) on everything from nursing homes to health-care providers and mental-health facilities. The majorities have unveiled their budgets for this supplemental year and, unsurprisingly, every penny you send to Olympia has been spent growing government.
My colleagues and I have been pushing for tax relief, whether it’s doing the will of the people and passing my bill to give $30 car tabs, or needed property tax relief. The fact is, the state has the money but is choosing other “priorities.”
Just look at how much state spending has increased since 2013. Granted, we had some needed investments to make in education, but it’s out of control. You pay for the state budget with your taxes and the growth has outpaced any gains you or your family may have seen in wages. That’s even worse if you’re outside of King County. Something has to give.
Time for a Washington Prop 13
Some years back, taxpayers in California revolted because of their skyrocketing property taxes. We are reaching that point here. I’ve received countless emails from people around the district who can’t afford the endless property tax increases. The reality is that the Legislature cannot be trusted. I voted in support of historic education funding reform to satisfy the McCleary decision that also resulted in a property tax reduction for over 70 percent of Washingtonians. Less than a year later, the majority betrayed taxpayers and undid that work. They opened the door to steep increases in property taxes and an overreliance on local levies that create inequity in our schools. We are almost back in the same boat that got us the McCleary case to begin with.
We need and can afford property-tax relief. I’ll be pushing for legislation modeled after the California Proposition 13. It froze property tax assessments at a certain date, limited annual increases to inflation, and froze re-evalutions until after change of ownership.
Just say ‘No’ to kindergarten sex ed
I’ve received overwhelming responses from constituents opposing the bill that would mandate sex education starting in kindergarten. Let’s be clear, this is not about good-touch, bad-touch or having healthy friendships. What’s really happening is an agenda pushed by special interests to sexualize our children. Discussing and normalizing alternative lifestyles or teaching about sexual pleasure is not ‘age appropriate’ for young children. You’ve been clear, and I’m in agreement, we need to get sex entirely out of schools and get back to teaching our students how to read, write and do math. Our state has a persistent opportunity gap and introducing this new requirement will only make matters worse by taking up valuable instructional time on something that is the responsibility of parents and families.
Starving transportation
Democratic leaders on the Senate Transportation Committee unveiled their funding proposal last week to deal with what they’re calling the “I-976 crisis” and to restart delayed transportation projects.
I supported this supplemental budget, but it’s really just a Band-Aid. It is needlessly starving our state’s transportation infrastructure and fails to address long-term solutions that we need to act on now. That is being exacerbated by the ill-advised pausing of critical projects by Gov. Inslee, which has cost taxpayers untold millions of dollars. The overwhelming majority of those projects are funded by the gas tax and have nothing to do with this so-called “I-976 crisis.”
What about homeless and housing?
Last week, those of us working on housing and homelessness in the Senate Republican Caucus held a news conference to discuss what the Legislature is doing about this critical issue. We outlined where we thought we should be going at the outset of the 2020 legislative session, but with just a couple of weeks left to go, not many of those proposals made it through.
The majority is intent on continuing the same failed policies and practices of just throwing more taxpayer dollars at a broken system with no accountability.Here’s a short article on parts of the Republican proposal.We all agree that this problem needs to be addressed. We just disagree on how to get there. I’ve been vocal about my holistic plan to address this problem. To my disappointment many of these components have been simply ignored by the majority in favor of increased spending on policies that have proven they do not work.
Standing up for your rights
The Senate recently approved SB 6288, creating the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention to push unscientific ‘research’ by special interests. What’s worse, they’ll be handing out your tax dollars to nonprofits already funded by billionaires opposed to the Second Amendment.
The bill even says that as a condition of receiving those grants, organizations must include how they’d “implement evidenced-based firearm reduction.”
It’s not about research, it’s not about safety. It’s about restricting rights of law-abiding citizens and it’s unacceptable. It was even a fight to include language in the bill that directed this new state agency to look at suicide prevention, which is the largest percentage, by far, of firearm-related deaths.
It is an honor serving as your state Senator.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any concerns you have about your state government.
Sincerely,
Phil Fortunato,
Your 31st District State Senator
Democratic leaders on the Senate Transportation Committee unveiled their funding proposal this week to deal with what they’re calling the “I-976 crisis” and to restart delayed transportation projects. I offered the following statement to the press.
“I supported this supplemental budget, but it’s really just a band-aid. It is needlessly starving our state’s transportation infrastructure and fails to address long-term solutions that we need to act on now. That is being exacerbated by the ill-advised pausing of critical projects by Governor Inslee which has cost taxpayers untold millions of dollars. The overwhelming majority of those projects are funded by the gas tax and have nothing to do with this so-called ‘I-976 crisis.’ It’s simply political retribution against voters wanting to keep more of their tax dollars.
“Since joining the Senate, I’ve been fighting for a solution that actually addresses the underlying problems with funding transportation in our state. The Legislature is taxing working people and families to death with usage-related policies when the problem is inflation. If we simply used the existing sales tax on motor vehicles, we could fund all our transportation needs and then some with money people already send to Olympia.
“Taxpayers don’t distinguish between general fund and transportation accounts; they just expect results from what the state is taking out of their wallets. It’s our responsibility to use those dollars wisely.
“The Legislature should act now to give voters what they want – $30 car tabs. We can do that without a significant hit to our transportation funding like the somewhat flawed initiative does with all the other things in it.”
Before the 2020 legislative session, state Sen. Phil Fortunato, R-Auburn, advocated for a special session to address the $30 car tab legal challenge that placed the needed tax-relief measure on hold. Now, Fortunato’s “clean” bill to avoid single-subject concerns that precipitated the Initiative 976 lawsuit will receive a public hearing in the Senate Transportation Committee.
“I’m very pleased that the Senate at least is giving the public a fair shot to have their voice heard on this issue,” said Fortunato. “After the court once again cited the ‘single-subject’ requirements in the state constitution as a reason to ignore the will of the voters, I have dropped a clean, one-subject bill to avoid further legal issues.”
Similar single-subject arguments were made nearly 20 years ago when voters approved Initiative 695 which resulted in the court overturning the initiative. “This legislation will give taxpayers what they want, what they voted for – affordable car tabs,” Fortunato added.
“The battle over $30 car tabs that has played out for decades is emblematic of the problems with Olympia,” Fortunato said. “Who down here is actually listening to the voters? It’s really a simple concept that I’m fighting for – trust the people when they tell you what they want. I fought for the original fix back then and will continue to do so.”
The public hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 4, from 3:30-5:30 p.m. in the John A. Cherberg Building, Hearing Room 1. You can watch the hearing live on TVW by clicking here.
Greetings from Olympia,
It has been a busy three weeks in Olympia. Early on, the Senate took to the floor to push through legislation that was left over from last session. Unfortunately, not much of what was passed will help address the pressing issues of homelessness, rising costs of health care, or public safety. In fact, a couple of notable pieces of legislation that passed along party-lines would do the opposite.
I’m concerned about finding solutions to real-world problems, not pandering to special interests.
Expanded protections for criminals?
Consider that in the first week of the legislative session, one of the priorities of the majority (I used that term very loosely) was to expand protections for people in the country illegally. You may recall that last year Washington became a sanctuary state. Since then, we’ve seen horrendous crimes committed by those who should have been deported, but because police cannot communicate with immigration officials, they are set free. The legislation approved by the Senate makes citizenship status a protected class against discrimination. Watch my short video by clicking here.
Connect with me on Facebook!
Please follow me @SenatorPhilFortunato to receive updates on my work here in Olympia. Invite others in our district to follow and like my page!
More than just money
We all know that homelessness and affordable housing are a serious problem in our state. That is why last week I announced my comprehensive plan to deal with this. The current majority has done little to move our state forward besides proposing that we take $300 million from the state’s rainy-day fund to ‘fight’ homelessness. The state spends $625 million already and we aren’t getting results you deserve. I don’t think throwing more money at the problem will actually solve it. What do we need to do? Watch my news conference to find out more.
Watch my news conference to find out more.
Keeping our communities safe
My heart goes out to the victims of the recent shootings in Seattle. It is a sad commentary on policies at the state level and a local criminal justice system that is failing the city’s residents. The simple fact is that we are too soft on crime. Prosecutors aren’t pursuing charges when they should, and result is that two criminals who had 65 arrests between them were free to engage in a gun battle on a crowded downtown street. I say no more.
The answer isn’t more gun control on law-abiding citizens, but that’s exactly the response from many in Olympia. I’m sure that these two criminals who were illegally in possession of those firearms really cared about the concealed-carry class requirements or magazine-capacity ban. Watch my video on how I think we should address this problem and keep our communities safe.
Standing up for property rights
Some people just don’t get that we have a right to control property that we own. That is especially lost on some with the Seattle City council. A committee recently approved an arguably unconstitutional ban on evictions during the winter.
Don’t get me wrong, eviction is a terrible thing for people. But, in perspective, that proposal is a ‘solution’ in search of a problem. Evictions are costly, take a long time, and are rare. In addition, there are numerous resources to help those going through that process to prevent them from becoming homeless that doesn’t require stripping people’s private property rights.
The consequence of this policy is to allow people to live rent free in the winter and move out in the spring, while the landlord runs the risk of foreclosure. That is why I introduced legislation that would prevent local jurisdictions from messing with the state’s carefully crafted landlord tenant laws that we just enhanced last legislative session.
Read my news release here.
It is an honor serving as your state Senator.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any concerns you have about your state government.
Sincerely,
Phil Fortunato,
Your 31st District State Senator