The Washington State Senate on Tuesday passed Senate Bill 6843, which would suspend a key provision of the taxpayer protection law created by Initiative 960. SB 6843 would repeal the two-thirds legislative vote requirement for final passage of any tax increase bill until July 1, 2011, which covers the 2010 and 2011 legislative sessions.
Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, said the bill is a slap in the face to taxpayers. Continue reading
The Senate today took a break from voting on the 99th day of its scheduled 105-day session to unanimously approve a resolution recognizing the career of Ben Soria, who is stepping down June 30 after nine years as Yakima School District superintendent and 21 years of service as a school administrator in Washington.
Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, who introduced Senate Resolution 8661, recalled Soria’s arrival in Yakima from Tacoma, saying he was “the right man at the right time for all the right reasons.” Continue reading
Sen. Curtis King this morning told the Senate Agriculture and Rural Economic Development Committee that Washington would benefit if the state’s beleaguered beekeepers could take the money they pay in state taxes and invest it in the health of their hives instead.
King, R-Yakima, is the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 6468, which received a public hearing before the agriculture committee. The bipartisan measure would exempt pollination services, sales of bees and use of bees from the applicable state taxes – which amount to about a dollar per hive – and lift state restrictions on farm diesel used by beekeepers. Continue reading
