This week’s Q&A is with Janetta Taylor with the Department of Revenue. I was interested in finding out how the department is dealing with nearly 70 changes to the tax code worth $800 million that go into effect on a handful of different dates — including tomorrow, when cigarettes will cost $1 more per pack.

Taylor told me about some big changes to the tax code that could help local businesses, what it would take to implement an income tax, and much more.

Q: How many changes did the Legislature make, and what does the DOR have to do to implement those changes?

Taylor: With this session we have 68 changes that came through, which is quite a few. It will be a challenge for the department to make sure that we contact all the businesses that are affected. That really is our focus: educate, educate, educate.

We have a wide variety of mechanisms to do that. In Washington, most businesses and household are connected to the Web. The first thing we did is post the information on our Web page. There’s a link to all the information with the write-ups. Of course, also some of Mike’s (Mike Gowrylow, communications director at DOR) media releases. And we also try to target mailings to the specific businesses that are impacted. We have about 450,000 registered businesses. Not all of these changes affect all businesses. We look at businesses by their activity and we tailor specific mailings to them and try to get them all the information they need.

We also have special things going on with electronic filing. A large number of our tax payers actually file electronically so we can send them e-mails or send them alerts in the system.

Q: The $1 per pack addition to the cigarette tax goes into effect tomorrow (May 1). What did you have to do to implement something like that?

Taylor: The ones that start tomorrow were quite challenging because we did have a short time frame. We actually started planning before the bill was signed. (more…)

Tags: Department of Revenue, income tax, Legislature, taxes

Good morning!

- In case you were sleeping: The Legislature adjourned early this morning (around 1 a.m.) after passing the tax package, passing all the budgets and honoring Rep. Lynn Kessler and Sen. Joe McDermott, who both announced last night that they won’t seek re-election. All of the House and about half of the Senate is up for re-election this year.

- Right now, you can watch Gov. Chris Gregoire give a post-session round-up on TVW. I’ll post it here as soon as it’s available.

- Tomorrow at 7 and 10 p.m., watch The Impact with host Jessica Gao. She’ll have a round-up of what went down last night.

- Thursday, be on the lookout for Legislative Year in Review. That’s right: A year worth of fun in one hour!

Tags: 2010, Legislature

Here’s a handy run-down of what happened today:

- Chief economic forecaster Arun Raha said revenue collections for the past two months are actually higher than he forecast in November. Yet …

- A comprehensive review showed the state’s economic climate hasn’t improved relative to other states.

- The state could save around $10 million by streamlining information services for five agencies and potentially $277 million for privatizing liquor stores.

- House Speaker Frank Chopp said the state needs to create a moral budget without cutting the most vulnerable and Rep. Richard DeBolt said the state needs to encourage business development, which will finance a healthy future.

- The Senate Health and Long-Term Care Committee discussed banning BPA.

- Chief Justice Barbara Madsen was sworn in.

Want more? Watch Legislative Review at 11 o’clock tonight or 7:45 tomorrow morning.

Tags: Legislature, supreme court

Today marks the first day of this year’s 60-day legislative session. Here’s what’s happening:

- At 9:30 a.m., TVW will be live with the swearing-in of Supreme Court Chief Justice Barbara Madsen.

- At noon, both the House and Senate will hold their first floor session. Watch the House live on TVW. We’ll replay the Senate ceremonies tonight at 5:30.

- At 1:30, the first wave of hearings will begin. See the full schedule here. TVW will be live with the Senate Economic Development and Innovation Committee. The state’s chief economic forecaster, Arun Raha, will be there to discuss the economic climate and outlook.

- At 3:30, we’ll be live with the House Ways & Means Committee, where Auditor Brian Sonntag will cover the statewide performance review.

- And at 8 p.m., you can catch Friday’s taping of the Seattle City Club. They hosted legislative leaders for the annual session preview.

- If you don’t have time to watch all of this but still want to know what happened, watch TVW at 11 p.m. for Legislative Review.

Tags: daily preview, Legislature

Finishing up the first panel at the AP Legislative Forum is Rep. Richard DeBolt. He said he feels like you could go back to any year, rewind and hear the same things at the opening forum. “We have to think about it from a simple perspective, we have to break it down from the people at home … that is putting people back to work. Washingtonians want to work.”

He said the state has to keep up and make sure “Washington businesses can compete.” He said the state has done everything it can in the past 12 years to “push manufacturing out of Washington… we have not done the best we can do.”

“It doesn’t seem that difficult to me,” he said, to figure out how to reinvigorate business in the state: Make it easier to permit businesses, for starters.

Tags: Budget, DeBolt, Legislature, taxes

Sen. Lynn Kessler, filling in for House Speaker Frank Chopp, followed Sens. Hewitt and Brown (see below) at the AP Forum. She said she wanted to make clear how the state got into this situation — being $2.6 billion short: “The world economy collapsed and we are in this situation.”

She said she also wanted to make a distinction between business and government: When times get tough for businesses, they lose customers and must get leaner. Not the state, she said: There are more unemployed, more on food stamps, more students in schools.

She said House Democrats are also working on public safety bills to address the police officer killings in the last few months.

Tags: Budget, Kessler, Legislature, taxes

Sen. Lisa Brown at the Legislative forum:
“I think there isn’t a question about the kind of state people of Washington want to live in,” she started out with, “So the question for us this Legislative session is … how will we do that?”

“The Senate Democrats, when we went on our retreat, were clear: We’re committed, despite the economy, to moving forward … and preserving that quality of life that makes Washington so special.”

She said they’ll “start soon and act quickly” on the budget problem. “I was pleased to see that the Governor was not content with the Book One budget,” she said — Gov. Gregoire’s Constitutionally required all-cuts budget released last month.

Tags: Budget, Legislature, Lisa Brown

Tomorrow morning at 9 o’clock, I’ll be at the annual AP forum, where lawmakers will talk to the media about what’s in store for the year. I’ll be blogging as it happens, so if you want a glimpse into the next 60 days — from the people who will actually be making the decisions — check back here.

And tomorrow night, don’t miss The Impact at 7 and 10 p.m. on TVW. Host Jessica Gao will interview Victor Moore from the Office of Financial Management. And more.

Tags: Budget, Legislature, policy

Next Monday, the 60-day legislative session will begin, bringing Legislators, lobbyists and extra staff members to Olympia to try to solve the $2.6 billion budget problem.

Since this is an even-numbered year, any bills that were introduced but failed to pass last year are still in play. On top of that, many members have introduced new bills. You can find them all here, but I’ve listed a few below to pique your interest.

A sampling:
- A pinioned pair of sexually altered mute swans living on a private lake of 20 acres or fewer would not be considered deleterious livestock under this bill.
- Small wineries would only have to file annual reports to the state, rather than the monthly reports required of larger wineries and distributors, under this one in the Senate and this one in the House.
- Baby food containers and sports bottles would be barred from containing bisphenol A, or BPA. See that bill here.
- This one would amend the Constitution to allow for an income tax.
- And this one would take make it legal to possess up to 50 lbs of black powder (gunpowder) if it contains Potassium Nitrate. It’s currently legal to have up to 5 lbs. of the gunpowder.

Tags: bills, Budget, Legislature

Tune into TVW now to watch the Quality Education Council. This is the group that is tasked with studying public education in the state and coming up with ways it can be improved.

So far, they’ve discussed new teacher mentor programs and graduation requirements may be on the horizon. Stay tuned.

And don’t forget that later this week is Assembly Days, when lawmakers will return to Olympia for a pre-session set of hearings.

Tags: education, Legislature, QEC