Trouble hits sales tax coalition
The campaign for a temporary boost in the state sales tax hiccupped Friday and Saturday, but the coalition that would mount the campaign is taking another look at making a run for the November ballot.
“We are reconsidering,” said Cassie Sauer, spokeswoman for the Washington State Hospital Association, a key coalition player. “We thought we might be out.”
Sauer said hospitals are in “deep conversation” about what to do next and are still planning to decide by Tuesday whether to help bankroll a referendum to raise the state sales tax by 0.3 percentage points for three years.
That proposal, which is before the Legislature in House Bill 2377, would raise about $1.1 billion to offset some of the cuts lawmakers are about to make to funding for the Basic Health Plan, payments to hospitals and nursing homes and support for other health programs for the poor. Those are among about $4 billion in spending cuts the Legislature is poised to make in the 2009-11 state budget. Lawmakers also will use about $3 billion in federal funds, transfers and pay and hiring freezes to close a projected $9 billion gap between spending and tax collections over the next 27 months.
Sauer said polling done by the coalition showed voters split on the idea of a temporary sales tax increase and that many people were undecided. She also noted that polling was done during “the worst week you could,” before and after April 15 – tax day.
“Polling showed that people find these cuts unacceptable, in the 75 to 80 percent range,” she said. “And it showed that they are very worried about the economy, and about taxes.
“So the poll is a very mixed message.”
Coalition members were glum Friday after they reviewed the poll numbers, but over the course of Saturday they rebounded. The coalition includes hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, nurses and unions that represent members of the health care profession, including home care workers. The American Association of Retired Persons also might join.
“The budget situation will not get better. The cuts will go into effect July 1, and they’re just terrible,” Sauer said. So members agreed to take another look.
“We are in deep conversation with our members,” she said. “I think we feel that these cuts are so horrible and so devastating to people’s lives and their health, that we need to look at every angle about whether we should give this (tax referendum) a try. We sort of have a moral obligation.”
Representatives of the hospital association and Service Employees Union International met Saturday afternoon with House Speaker Frank Chopp. They declined to speak with reporters, but Chopp said later that he’s still supportive of a ballot measure and hopes to talk to members of his Democratic caucus by Tuesday afternoon. That’s when he expects to have more feedback from the coalition, as well as from the 61 caucus members.
Democrat majorities in the House and the Senate would have to decide whether to put the referendum on the ballot because Republicans in both chambers say the Legislature doesn’t need to raise taxes to balance the budget.
The Legislature is scheduled to adjourn April 26.
Chopp claimed public support for the 0.3 percentage-point proposal is 55 percent to 57 percent.
“It’s definitely in the realm of the possibility of passing,” he said.
Rep. Eric Pettigrew, D-Seattle, prime sponsor of HB 2377, said it would be difficult to mount a referendum campaign without key financial support of the hospitals and nursing homes. That was right after rumors that the coalition had withdrawn from any campaign.
When it appeared the coalition might have fallen apart – and it might yet – some House members began gravitating to another possible ballot measure.
“It does bring the jobs package to the forefront as a possibility,” said Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish, chairman of the House Capital Budget Committee.
Dunshee said Saturday that he’s still drumming up support for his proposal to put a $3 billion bond issue on the general election ballot to create an estimated 90,000 jobs.
“The vote count is looking pretty good,” he said, before the hospital association reversed itself and said it might be back in the game.
Joseph Turner: 253-597-8436
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