Letter: ‘We are ALL being shafted’

Amboy resident Thomas Schenk says it’s hard to believe we got along for 135 years without the kind of laws, rules and taxation to which ‘one-party’ rule has led us

Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the author alone and may not reflect the editorial position of ClarkCountyToday.com

I am commenting today on the Washington State 69th Legislative session and specifically the second portion of this session currently in progress.

Last session (2025), thanks to “one-party” rule by Democrats, the largest taxing bill in the history of Washington state was imposed on ALL citizens residing in our borders.

Earlier this year, Gov. Ferguson touted last session’s historic taxing legislation and, apparently, thought it was a good thing.

Addressing this year’s current session, Gov. Ferguson is now bragging about a proposed supplemental tax bill that will be the largest ever enacted, closing a two-plus billion dollar deficit.

The projected two billion deficit was known last session, so one can only assume the almost $10 billion dollar package passed by Democrats (“one-party” rule) last session was so large they didn’t want to push the envelope any further and thus created a built-in excuse for taxing Washingtonians even more with this supplemental bill in this current session.

And lest you think I’m being political, I guess in a sense I am. “One-party” rule by Democrats resulted in a change to the rules governing the House that had been in effect for years, thus, effectively preventing Republicans from being able to influence any of the proposed taxing bills.

I am fairly certain a majority of residents of Washington state – Democrat, Republican and Independent – will be incensed about the legislature passing an almost $10 billion dollar increase in taxes, fees and other charges, only to have the current legislative session introducing approximately one thousand bills to be considered before the session ends on March 12, or thereabouts and slapping ALL citizens with $2 billion dollars more of taxation in all forms.

In 137 years since statehood and, subsequently 69 legislative sessions, the current crop of Democrats think we need one thousand more laws this session, affecting the lives of all Washingtonians, monetarily, in the most negative way … and that’s on top of the, I believe, 600-plus bills passed last session.

Let me do the math … after 135 (since statehood in 1889 and the start of the 2025-2026 biennium) “one-party” rule has determined Washingtonians need/needed, for this biennium session, 1,600 new laws or rules … hard to believe we got along for 135 years without the kind of laws, rules and taxation to which “one-party” rule has led us.

We are ALL being shafted … Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike…how long will we allow this tyranny to fester?

Thomas Schenk
Amboy