Dear Neighbors,

My previous report mentioned how it wasn’t too soon to start preparing for next year’s legislative session. I’ll share a couple of examples of how that is happening, and other issues that have been keeping me busy on behalf of people and communities in our 16th District.

But first, you should know about an email I received recently from the Senate Republican policy expert assigned to work with those of us on the Senate budget committee. It was an analysis of tax-related information collected by the U.S. Census Bureau, broken down state by state.

The data shows that in 2023, a Washington family of four was paying nearly $8,000 more in taxes and fees, on average, than it had paid in 2020. The term “fees” doesn’t just include things like hunting and fishing licenses, but also factors like tuition payments and hospital fees, all of which contribute to the cost of living.

Also, that same Washington family was paying (again, using the 2023 numbers) a whopping $5,276 more in state and local taxes and fees than the national average.

That made our state 11th-worst in the nation.

While Oregon was worse, placing eighth on the list, I didn’t see any mention of fuel costs in the data. That is in Oregon’s favor, as gas and diesel prices south of the stateline have been consistently and significantly lower than Washington’s for the past couple of years.

The real eye-opener was Idaho. It had the fifth lowest tax burden for 2023, based on the same factors. And it’s also way less expensive to buy fuel there!

To be fair, the rankings leave out some details on the surface – like the fact that Alaska, Wyoming and North Dakota rank third, fourth and seventh but get a big part of their revenue from taxes related to natural resources (like oil) that fall on non-residents. Pull these states from the list and Washington looks even more expensive.

This also doesn’t take in the huge tax increases passed this year. Imagine where our state will rank once the census data catches up with what the majority Democrats imposed this year.

One more thing about taxes: the tax and fee increases that take effect tomorrow (Oct. 1) include not only a 50% hike in the cost of the Discover Pass, required to access state parks and other recreational lands (like many boat launches), but also a huge expansion of the number of Washington businesses who must begin collecting sales tax on behalf of the state.

As a Seattle television station recently reported, this is an unwelcome surprise for many business owners in our state. I can add another to the list: the Fort Walla Walla Museum, which emailed me recently about the expanded tax. Who would have thought its “Living History” performances would be tagged as “live presentations,” making them taxable under the new law – as if they were an online drivers-education class, which is another example? It’s ridiculous.

Good things are still happening in our district

This past week I went to Pomeroy to attend the latest meeting of the Snake River Salmon and Recovery Board. The voting members are county commissioners from Whitman, Asotin, Garfield, Columbia and Walla Walla counties, and leaders from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

I had served on the board during my eight years as a Walla Walla County commissioner, and am very familiar with the great things that are happening for salmon habitat, like streambank restoration. In fact, the agenda for this meeting included a presentation of five years’ worth of recovery-related investments and other data to show how restoration projects are working.

The board members had many questions about attitudes and realities in Olympia relating to their work. As a member of the Senate budget committee who also is on the capital-budget team, I had answers, and also brought them up to speed on the fate of the bill I introduced to support maintenance of salmon-recovery projects.

As with any other capital project, like a new school building, it’s one thing to make the initial investment and another to support the maintenance needed to protect that investment. Unfortunately, our Democratic colleagues didn’t get behind my Senate Bill 5475, so I will continue advocating for it in 2026.

While we’re on the subject of fish, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council will soon be seeking another round of public comments as part of drafting and approving a new 5-year Fish and Wildlife Amendment.

The council is in the process of developing its draft for release at the end of October. Then there will be an additional public comment period until January 2026. The finalized plan will be finished next July.

If you are among those who support efforts to increase habitat and engage in predator control and other salmon-restoration ideas, this may be your opportunity! Click here for more information and to keep track of the process.

Pulp and paper industry has reasons for concern

At the risk of dating myself, there’s been a pulp and paper mill in Wallula for about as long as I’ve been alive. And according to the latest survey of mills by the state Department of Natural Resources, the number of pulp and paper mills in Washington was steady compared to other sectors of our wood-products industry.

However, no industry in our state is immune to the negative effects of government regulations, as the agriculture or homebuilding sectors know too well. Last week I accepted an invitation to meet in Kennewick with Washington members of the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers – and believe me, they also are concerned about what is or could be coming out of Olympia.

An example is Senate Bill 5360, the so-called “environmental crimes” bill. Democrats pushed this extremist legislation through the Senate this year, and although the bill stalled in the House Appropriations Committee, we will surely see it again.

Also, the new commissioner of public lands made headlines recently for using his authority to put 77,000 acres of state forestlands off-limits to harvest. As the head of DNR, he has the authority to act unilaterally like this.

But while this made environmental activists happy, it would have been helpful if he had sought input from legislators. I would have explained how this could affect the feedstock available to pulp and paper mills, while also threatening the trust-land revenue that supports school construction.

Standing with Prescott students and families

Since 2007, Washington has had 295 public school districts. There were 296 districts until the Vader School District in southern Lewis County became financially insolvent due to levy and bond failures and was dissolved.

I am keeping close track of the financial issues facing the Prescott School District. They are not due to levy or bond failures. Instead of hinting in so many words that the district might end up being split up or annexed, like the Vader district was, the state school superintendent’s office should show grace and offer creative thinking.

While I am a proud Prescott alum, this isn’t about being “true to my school,” as The Beach Boys sang. From what I know, the factors that put Prescott in dire financial straits could have happened in any school district. They have nothing to do with the community.

This report in the Union-Bulletin does a good job of capturing the situation and what the school means to the people who call the district home. Because the Legislature may become part of a solution, it could take a while for this to play out – but know that I will continue to stand with Prescott.

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I am working to make living in our state more affordable, make our communities safer, uphold our paramount duty to provide for schools, and hold state government accountable. I’ll work with anyone who shares those goals and wants to find solutions.

Please reach out to my office with your thoughts, ideas and concerns on matters of importance to you. I am here to serve and look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Perry Dozier
State Senator
16th Legislative District

EMAIL: Perry.Dozier@leg.wa.gov
OLYMPIA PHONE: (360) 786-7630
OLYMPIA OFFICE: 342 Irving R. Newhouse Building
MAILING ADDRESS: P.O. Box 40416, Olympia, WA 98504