Inslee: No New Taxes after Car Tab Initiative Passes, Hello Higher User Fees!

[skeeter 20i]

But till then they can pound sand,Maybe there biologist can take a pay cut or there wolf moderater or someone down the line , not my problem.

This is where I'm at too. They have done very little to nothing for the sportsman, wasted mass money on wolf issues, and totally neglected opportunity. Why should I worry about their budget when I get nothing in return?
I have 3 cars i register every year, soon to add a 4th when my son turns 16 this spring. The money I save on regriststion fees, and not buying big game tags in the state, will go right to my out of state fund.

+1 

[ne kid]

Milage tax at 2.8 cents a mile is already in the works. Who does that affect the most rural communities that typically don't vote for Inslee and his band of thieves. Living in a rural area feels like that movie hunger games more and more every day.

[Special T]

WDFW 2017-19 budget which ended July 1:
27% came from license fees
21% came from state general fund/taxes
62% came from the feds, local government or private sector

10 years earlier in 2007-09:
31% came from state general fund/taxes
18% came from license fees
61% came from the feds, local government or private sector

It is unfortunate  that so many folks do not link the PR funds to sportsmen especially since the payout formulation is based off it. If you link PR funds that 27 look closer to 47%.   

I am.befuddled that sportsmen can contribute so little according to the department and yet they can do so much more for us than if we merged parks, dnr and Wildlife. 

Not based off my math, more like 37%. PR and DJ funds are funded annually, the WDFW budget is biannually. In 2018 WDFW got $22 million in PR and DJ funds, so if you double that to $44M and add that to the $118M WDFW got from the Wildlife fund in 2017-19 you're actually sitting at around 37% funded from PR, DJ, and license fees (total budget was $437M). Also need to remember that there are a lot of non-hunters who do contribute to PR based off the items they buy.

Nobody in DNR, Parks or WDFW want the agencies to merge. That was a Gregoire push back in the recession.

2 points
1 the archery and shooting communities that make up the taxes are not a random sprinkling across the demography. The percentage that hunt/ or used to  is quite high so ppainting with the broad brush that some how everyone I has a say cause everyone is contributing to PR funds is incorrect.
2 lumping the fish side with the hunting side is a side step. I know it makes for quicker easier math. But it's not an honest comparison.

You answered my question that more $ is what would un clog the problem with WDFW.  While it may $ is just a stand in proxy for a solution. With enough $ all problems are solved, be it temporary.

I brought up the merger because the department acts like it doesnt have a clear vision. I would like to think that sportsmen are, but from most of the conversation  sportsmen disagree.

Thank you for taking the arrows slung at you, and elevating the conversation. I wish the department did a better job of it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[hunter399]

WDFW 2017-19 budget which ended July 1:
27% came from license fees
21% came from state general fund/taxes
62% came from the feds, local government or private sector

10 years earlier in 2007-09:
31% came from state general fund/taxes
18% came from license fees
61% came from the feds, local government or private sector

It is unfortunate  that so many folks do not link the PR funds to sportsmen especially since the payout formulation is based off it. If you link PR funds that 27 look closer to 47%.   

I am.befuddled that sportsmen can contribute so little according to the department and yet they can do so much more for us than if we merged parks, dnr and Wildlife. 

Not based off my math, more like 37%. PR and DJ funds are funded annually, the WDFW budget is biannually. In 2018 WDFW got $22 million in PR and DJ funds, so if you double that to $44M and add that to the $118M WDFW got from the Wildlife fund in 2017-19 you're actually sitting at around 37% funded from PR, DJ, and license fees (total budget was $437M). Also need to remember that there are a lot of non-hunters who do contribute to PR based off the items they buy.

Nobody in DNR, Parks or WDFW want the agencies to merge. That was a Gregoire push back in the recession.

2 points
1 the archery and shooting communities that make up the taxes are not a random sprinkling across the demography. The percentage that hunt/ or used to  is quite high so ppainting with the broad brush that some how everyone I has a say cause everyone is contributing to PR funds is incorrect.
2 lumping the fish side with the hunting side is a side step. I know it makes for quicker easier math. But it's not an honest comparison.

You answered my question that more $ is what would un clog the problem with WDFW.  While it may $ is just a stand in proxy for a solution. With enough $ all problems are solved, be it temporary.

I brought up the merger because the department acts like it doesnt have a clear vision. I would like to think that sportsmen are, but from most of the conversation  sportsmen disagree.

Thank you for taking the arrows slung at you, and elevating the conversation. I wish the department did a better job of it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

Something no one considers going into the future PR funds will be a thing of the past.New gun laws have drove up sales in recent users,but as gun laws get more and more retarded PR funds will go down.Background checks for ammo ,people that don't want to buy new guns, it's coming.More funds will come out of general funds as years go on,cry about it.Law maker like to make laws but cry when they have to pay for them.

You make your bed ,now lay in it.
No new taxes,or rate hikes.

Bigtex I do support enforcement side of WDFW, but everyone eles can pound sand.

[pianoman9701]

Governor Inslee announced his 2020 supplemental budget today. Of course the big topic was the passage of the car tab initiative and how the state will make up for the cost. Basically it comes down to this, money that was previously generated by car tab fees for transportation funds will now come from the General Fund (taxes.) This obviously in turn means there will be less General Fund money. With WDFW's significant budget shortfall the WDFW Commission asked the Governor and Legislature for more General Fund money...then the car tab initiative passed....

So now that there will be less General Fund money where is the money that WDFW needs going to come from??

Higher hunting and fishing license fees of course!

The exact fee increase amount has not been released, and of course this is all subject to legislature approval. It should be noted that when WDFW submitted it's budget request prior to the November election they were against license fee increases.

So what am I missing here. This is a new source of income for the state.

Washington state collected a total of $367.4 million in legal marijuana income and license fees in fiscal year 2018, all but $5.4 million of it from the state’s marijuana excise, or sales tax. The data are in the Liquor and Cannabis Control Board’s FY 2018 Annual Report (p. 15).
The report also shows that the marijuana revenues were $157 million more than that of liquor, and that the marijuana excise tax income to the state for fiscal 2018 of $367.4 million grew by almost $50 million from the prior year.
Revenues collected by the Liquor and Cannabis Board from legal cannabis taxes, license fees, and penalties are distributed as follow, according to the report:
General Fund – $198.9 million
Basic Health – $117.4 million
Cities, Counties – $15.0 million
Education, Prevention – $36.2 million
Research – $1.1 million
Other – $20.8 million

While weed may be bringing in $198.9 million to the general fund per year, the state expects to lose $320 million per year for the next 6 years due to the car tab fee reduction

So, that leaves a difference of $122m deficit from tab revenues just considering only the new marijuana revenues accounted for. Why would that mean that the whole shortfall should fall to the WDFW budget money needed from the general fund? Why wouldn't all programs be cut to make up the deficit? It makes no sense that it would all come from only one of the thousands of state government budgets. The bigger problem we have is that the state keeps creating more money pits. Aside from hiring trans strippers to entertain state employees with money slated for homeless relief, we're wasting money on a bevy of social programs which have shown limited or any benefit to our state and citizens overall.

Sportsmen and women have been carrying a disproportionate amount of the burden for WDFW and DNR/State park funding through our license fees and the Discover Pass, now $35, I believe. As we've seen, non-sporting citizens who pay nothing into these fees are being given an equal or larger say in how the WDFW operates. This is painfully evident with the outrageous wolf program. It'd be one thing to pay higher fees if the state gave our end of the funding more consideration. But they give less each year and those who pay no fees are given more.

[Pegasus]

WDFW can save money by eliminating the wolf programs which would enthrall the people that they are supposed to be supporting; those that hunt and fish...

[Henrydog]

WDFW is not the problem, they are a symptom.  I am not a fan of some of the regs or policy, that is the problem with this issue.  In this case they are a symptom of a State and a line of Governors and Legislators for 30 years that only view us as a source of income.

 When any of us have suffered a layoff or the like we just tighten our belt.  Not this State, more is never enough.  Remember Inslee and Side show Bob believe they are smarter and more morally correct that you.  Please just sign over your paycheck to them, move into apartment were they can keep an eye on you, and please turn in your guns.

Remember when the Lotto would fund education (circa 1985ish?)  Remember when the #_)$#_$L Discover Pass was only for the Recession?  Remember when this State has a "Rainy Day fund"  There will never been enough money given to these down right socialist.

[Bob33]

I have no doubt that costs to run WDFW have increased since 2011. I would be willing to pay more in license fees, but it would be easier to stomach if there was an indication that the department cares about hunters. If they do care about hunters (and I’m sure many of their employees do), they need to do a better job in demonstrating and communicating that they do.

It’s hard not to conclude they care about wolf lovers and hunters to an equivalent degree. If so, then go after an equivalent amount of funding from the wolf lovers and leave hunting license fees alone.

[Ridgeratt]

Am I to believe that the Pot revenues are going to stay a constant or go down? There's a new business on almost every corner in Spokane.
It would make me think the revenue should increase some?

What happened to having to live within a budget? Seems I only get a set amount of money and when its gone I wait until the next payday.

[pianoman9701]

They've continued to increase.

[JimmyHoffa]

Am I to believe that the Pot revenues are going to stay a constant or go down? There's a new business on almost every corner in Spokane.
It would make me think the revenue should increase some?

Tough to say, the price has fallen quite a bit since it started.  Something like half of the farms/processors each year go out of business.  The remaining ones are increasingly efficient and can sell at lower prices to the retail stores.  So, the increase in demand will have to offset the price reductions.

[Buckhunter24]

Alcohol and tobacco rise in price pretty steadily, gotta think weed will be the same

[Fl0und3rz]

Always more, more, more from the government types.  We need more, so you are going to pay more.  Never any discussion about cutting non-essential programs, tightening their belts, auditing programs for waste, abuse, and ROI.

Must be nice to be able to always return to mommy and daddy for an increase in your allowance.

What is the loss in revenue from car tabs as a percentage of total revenue?  How about a same percentage cut in budgets across the board to fund this initiative?

[pianoman9701]

The problem with cuts when a D talks about cuts, they're talking about cuts to the proposed new budget increases, never actual cuts. More spending but less more spending. And, they usually then don't implement them.

[Cougartail]

" auditing programs for waste, "

Government management will never audit programs for waste because they know they are the waste.