Democrats turn up pressure on “revenue-neutral” carbon tax initiative

In what appears to be a last-ditch attempt to derail the self-described “revenue neutral” carbon tax Initiative 732, so-called “nonpartisan legislative staff” have produced an analysis that says I-732 will actually cost the state $675 million over four years, instead of producing $44 million in additional revenue during that time as initiative backers suggest.

The Seattle Times reports that “Yoram Bauman, co-founder of Carbon Washington, the group backing I-732, said he disagrees with the state analysis. ‘I continue to be confident our policy is approximately revenue-neutral.’ ”

The timing of the analysis’ release  – which was requested by that well-known “nonpartisan” Representative (and soon-to-be Senator) Reuven Carlyle, the outgoing Democrat chair of the House Finance Committee – is highly suspect, as the I-732 campaign is planning to turn in tomorrow the signatures it needs to qualify its initiative.

The Democrat Party’s biggest donors – extreme environmentalists like California billionaire Tom Steyer and big labor unions like SEIU – prefer an approach which raises billions in new taxes to fund an expansion of state government. They tried to shove  I-732 aside just before Christmas, to increase the prospects for their tax-raising (though yet-to-be publically released) initiative, but Bauman and the I-732 campaign leaders instead listened to the volunteers who have worked this year to gather over 300,000 signatures for the initiative and decided to move forward.

Now, with the release of a state report suggesting I-732 would actually reduce taxes – along with reducing carbon emissions – we can expect an overnight push to keep those signatures from being submitted by Thursday’s deadline. Stay tuned.