Article by Erik Smith. Published on Tuesday, April 06, 2010 EST.

Dems Won’t Reveal Details, But You Know Someone’s Gonna be Taxed

Top taxmen Ross Hunter and Ed Murray go their separate ways after one of Tuesday’s many negotiating sessions.

By Erik Smith

Staff writer/ Washington State Wire

OLYMPIA, April 6.—Tuesday was a day of shuttle diplomacy as Democratic leaders met behind closed doors to work out a deal on taxes to end the 2010 legislative session.

            Top tax negotiators trundled between House and Senate all afternoon long, and legislative leaders trooped downstairs to the governor’s office. Exactly what they were talking about, they refused to say — but it’s a sure bet it involves a tax on someone. House leaders said they planned to make a proposal to the Senate Tuesday evening, the second in two days.

            “We’re not going to give you guys any details,” House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, told reporters who waited expectantly in the wings of the House.

            “We’re not negotiating in the press,” said House Finance Chairman Ross Hunter, D-Medina.

            It’s down to the wire for the Democrats who control the Legislature. They face an April 13 deadline to wrap up their 30-day special session, and they remain $200 million apart on their plans to raise taxes. Both sides agree they need about $800 million in new revenue in order to plug a $2.8 billion hole in the state budget. They’ll go the rest of the distance by spending one-time federal money, foregoing planned spending increases, making actual cuts, and raiding dedicated accounts.

            Many of the tax increases have been agreed to, and appear a done deal. But that last $200 million has bollixed the Legislature’s top Democrats. Should they raise the state sales tax, as the Senate prefers? Or should they go after smaller-scale taxes that target specific industries, like banking and software developers, as the House would like?

            Beer Tax Losing Fizz?

            There’s nothing new about the impasse – it’s been going on for weeks. And those who aren’t part of the negotiations have been left with so little to do that most have gone home, awaiting the call of their leaders.

            But what is new is that the Democrats have begun talking to one another. Negotations were kick-started Monday, when the Senate offered to split the difference on the sales tax, and impose about $100 million in new taxes that so far hadn’t made it into any of the formal proposals. The Senate proposal included sales taxes on candy, gum, and bottled water, and a boost in beer taxes that would raise the price of a six-pack of regular-Joe beer by about 15 cents. The current tax adds 28 cents to the price, and the Senate plan would raise that to 43 cents. Microbrews would be exempt.

            Rumors bubbled through political circles Tuesday that the idea didn’t sit well with rank-and-file House members. Democrats taxing beer? And not just any beer, but the sort that working people drink? While leaving yuppies alone?

House leaders lobbed a counterproposal to the Senate Monday night – the content of which they refused to reveal.

            And anyone who planted himself on one of the benches in the Capitol rotunda Tuesday afternoon might have witnessed an interesting sight.

            One Meeting After Another

            Every hour or so, one group of Democratic leaders would emerge from their offices with their staff in tow, on their way to and from meetings with the others.

            Just about everyone else in the all-but-vacant Capitol building seemed to be a reporter. They lobbed questions as Democratic leaders strode by and did their best not to answer.

            “Any news?” a reporter asked House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, as he emerged from a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane.

            “We’re making progress,” he said.

            He said that last week.

            Then Brown and Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, the Senate’s top taxman, went downstairs and met with the governor for about half-an-hour.

            By the end of the day, House leaders were getting set for another meeting – to discuss a new proposal from Hunter.

             Chopp breezed by a group of reporters waiting in the House wings.

            “We’re working to get it done as fast as we can,” he said.

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