Politics Northwest

The Seattle Times political team explores state, regional and local politics.

April 9, 2009 4:09 PM

Frank Chopp: Better than 50-50 chance of sending voters a sales tax increase

There's a growing buzz in the Legislature about a proposal to increase the state sales tax by a third of a penny to help backfill proposed cuts to state health programs.

Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown has been blogging about the idea and now House Speaker Frank Chopp says "I'm very interested in supporting something like that."

Asked about the odds of a tax measure going on the ballot, Chopp said, "I'd say better than 50-50."

Brown this afternoon said her caucus is still looking at a sales tax proposal and that she's still interested in a possibly sending voters a ballot measure that would create an income tax aimed at the wealthy.

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Comments (10)

Tell old Frank good luck with that. King county already pays 9.5%, 3% higher than the state sales tax rate of 6.5% I think they need to cut off... Posted on April 9, 2009 at 4:58 PM by radioman1952. Jump to comment

It is amazing that all the polls tell the legislature the people do not want new or increased taxes yet that is what they continue to insist upon.... Posted on April 9, 2009 at 4:25 PM by KMW. Jump to comment

Raise taxes, and it should curb spending, and in turn curb sales tax revenue. This is a horrible idea. Did anyone in state government take an... Posted on April 9, 2009 at 4:59 PM by Gunndawg. Jump to comment

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