The Department of Revenue has put together a list — with brief explanations, effective dates and links to the full bills — of all the new tax increases, exemptions and changes that will go into effect this year. See all 60-plus here.

Important to note: Not all “changes” are increases and decreases.

Also to note: The implementation dates vary. Many go into effect on June 10, but a few are already made. And the cigarette tax goes up on Saturday by $1 per pack.

Enjoy the browsing.

Below are excerpts from this morning’s conference call with Secretary of State Sam Reed and Attorney General Rob McKenna. The two spent this morning arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court that petition signatures are a public record. I’ll post the audio — along with the full courtroom transcript — as soon as both are available.

Update: Here is the full transcript.

McKenna: My team and I think it went well… When the petitioner’s council got up to talk, Mr. Bopp, the justices jumped in with questions 30 seconds in. For about 30 minutes they asked him a lot of questions, which means they’re skeptical… that all petitions in all cases ought to be nondisclosable…

Secondly, one of the issues we were prepared to argue about was whether or not this case involved a facial challenge to the public records act or only an as-applied challenge… Chief Justice Roberts immediately jumped in and said of course this is a facial challenge… so that was very valuable.

Justice Ginsberg was very valuable, so was justice Scalia….So, overall we felt it went well and we’re happy that since we’re the last case of the term that we’ll know one way or the other by the end of June.

Reed: I felt very good about this hearing this morning… it’s an appropriate issue for the U.S. Supreme Court to take up… My impression overall is that what they were weighing is the possibility of somebody being harassed so bad that it overweighs the right of the public in general…

They realized the extent of this case and it wasn’t just this one referendum and this one state in the United States…

What did show up was the obvious inexperience – they couldn’t quite believe it when the Attorney General said some people sign these … to get away from the person that is trying to get them to sign…They really, I think, assumed that someone would have to have a strong personal conviction (to sign a petition)…

McKenna: We wanted to get the point across — and we did — that lots of people sign petitions who haven’t decided how they intend to vote …

Reed: One more overall observation – that is that the weight of the petitioner’s argument seemed to land mainly on the fear of people being upset with you because you signed a petition… Justice Scalia came down very hard on that argument. And he said, and this is a great quote, “Democracy requires a certain amount of civic courage.” (more…)

Tags: McKenna, Reed, referendum 71, U.S. Supreme Court

- Rep. Skip Priest has announced he’s running to be Federal Way’s first elected mayor. Read the whole story here.

- Mark Emmert, the UW president who spent time in Olympia lobbying for fewer cuts and more tuition-setting authority, announced he’s leaving to head the NCAA. Read all about it here.

- Meanwhile, the mayor of South Prairie — a small town in Pierce County — has announced she’s running for the House seat Rep. Dan Roach is leaving. That story is here.

Tags: politics

I’m rushing to a conference call with Secretary of State Sam Reed and Attorney General Rob McKenna, but here’s an initial report on Reed’s reaction to their hearing in front of the U.S. Supreme Court over whether signatures to initiative petitions are a public record: It went “very, very well.”

Here are his full remarks, via Dave Ammons, his communication director: “In my opinion, it went very, very well.  I feel guardedly optimistic that we’ll prevail. The questioning really favored our point of view.”

Justice Scalia at one point said “Democracy requires a certain amount of civic courage.”

“The questions were about the harassment aspect and did that concern amount to enough to therefore deny open and transparent government, is it a problem of sufficient weight to overrule what the people have voted in the way of open public records?”

Check back in a few minutes for the text and audio of the conference call.

Tags: R71, supreme court

Gov. Chris Gregoire signed the bill to close state government for 10 days — saving $50 million or so –  in the biennium yesterday afternoon. The first closure day will be on July 12 and continue through the fiscal year.

The state won’t go lawless on that day — state patrol, emergency services, universities and many other state government agencies will remain open.

There are some exceptions to closures: If state agencies come up with other ways to save the same amount of money (and their plans are approved), they can go without closing.

For much more on the story, including which agencies will stay open and what days state government will close go to Jim Camden’s blog here.

Tags: furlough

Starting Saturday, some of the new taxes will go into effect. That includes the $1 per pack cigarette tax.

To read more on when taxes go into effect, go here.

Tags: taxes

Gov. Chris Gregoire hit Seattle this afternoon to sign a memorandum of understanding that will create a Confucius Institute in Washington.

In a statement, she said she told China’s president in 2006 that she’d like a Confucius Institute. “Before China would commit – our state had to prove that we could develop innovative programs to expand Chinese culture and language learning opportunities. I applaud the collaboration of business and education leaders who worked tirelessly to bring this institute here.”

Read the rest of the news release after the jump. (more…)

Tags: China, Gregoire

The City of Seattle is suing Attorney General Rob McKenna to try to stop him from continuing with the lawsuit he joined with a dozen other states over the constitutionality of federal healthcare reform.

Seattle is asking the state Supreme Court to weigh in on the matter. Here is what they filed.

One of their issues: They say McKenna does not represent Washington’s interests — but his own — in filing the lawsuit. In the filing, City of Seattle Attorney Pete Holmes cites a 2005 ballot measure, approved by nearly 70 percent of voters, that asked Congress to enact healthcare reform as evidence that Seattle is acting in the interest of its people.

From Kimberly Mills, City of Seattle’s communication director: “The Washington Supreme Court clerk has set a commissioner’s hearing for the petition for June 24.  AG Rob McKenna’s response is due May 24;  our reply is due June 14.  Assuming the commissioner decides to send it on to the Court, we would then get a hearing and briefing schedule.”

Janelle Guthrie, communication director for McKenna’s office, released this statement about the lawsuit: “We take any action requiring the attention of the state Supreme Court very seriously. However, the Attorney General maintains he has a legal and Constitutional duty to protect the rights of the citizens of the state of Washington in this case.”

Tags: healthcare reform

Gov. Chris Gregoire was in Tacoma this afternoon to announce her nominee for the Washington State Court of Appeals, Division 2. She picked Judge Lisa Worswick, who currently serves as a Pierce County Superior Court Judge. Worswick will replace Judge Elaine Houghton, who is retiring.

Worswick will start the job on May 3.

From a press release sent out by Gregoire’s office: “Following graduation from the University of Washington School of Law, Worswick began her legal career in private practice focusing on insurance defense, and later serving as prosecutor and police advisor for several Puget Sound cities while working at Luce & Associates in Fife. In 1997, Warswick became a municipal court judge in the city of Roy, followed by an appointment to the Pierce County District Court.  In 2002, Gov. Gary Locke appointed Worswick as Superior Court Judge for Pierce County.” She also volunteers for several organizations.

Gregoire said in the press release that Worswick’s “positive attitude, combined with her tireless work ethic” will serve the state well.

Gregoire is continuing to Seattle after her stop in Tacoma to sign a memorandum of understanding to create a Confucius Institute of Washington State.

Tags: appeals court, Gregoire

The governor signed new taxes into law today, but debate over Washington’s tax system is far from over.  On Tuesday, I’ll be talking with professional initiative sponsor, Tim Eyman, about his efforts to roll back some of the new taxes now on the books.  I’m also close to securing a one-on-one interview with Bill Gates, Sr. – the main proponent of a proposed high-earner income tax. These interviews will give you a chance to hear the uncut versions of their ideologies on the issue of taxes.

Also next week, we are expecting to learn how much money low-performing schools are receiving in federal school improvement grants. I’ll be talking with Janell Newman from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction about the new state-intervention process.  I’m also visiting the Tacoma School District to meet the principals who’ve been tapped to turn two underachieving schools into success stories.

Don’t miss The Impact Wednesday nights at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. on TVW and on our new channel, KBTC, Friday nights at 7 p.m.