How Seattle Taxpayers Got Screwed and Democrats Got Played in the State Education Funding Deal

Ritzville, Washington: Winner in the state budget negotiations, at Seattle's expense. Spencer Platt / Getty Images

If you missed the news out of Olympia, the big headline is that lawmakers finally agreed to pour billions of dollars into our public education system, which is currently so underfunded that Washington State is in contempt of its own supreme court.

That's great, but the details of the deal show that our Democratic governor, and our Democrat-controlled state house, chose to do this by signing on to an agreement that screws Seattle—all so that they could find common ground with the Republicans who control the state senate.

Take it away, Danny Westneat:

It just happened again. After talking and campaigning for years about how the tax structure in this state punishes the working and middle classes while letting the rich off the hook, what did Democrats agree to last week to settle a state budget impasse? They agreed to punish the middle class and let the rich off the hook. They capitulated to a Republican plan, hatched by senators in Centralia (John Braun) and Ritzville (Mark Schoesler), that hammers Seattle and the suburbs with one of the largest property-tax increases in local history. While at the same time passing a bunch of tax loopholes for businesses.

To put it another way: Seattle taxpayers are going to be paying a lot extra to educate kids in rural Republican legislative districts. At the same time, taxpayers in those red, rural districts will be getting a tax cut.

Goldy was right—did you hear that, Goldy!—when, back in 2010, he called Washington a welfare state for rural Republicans. Seven years later, it's only gotten more so.

What to do?

Well, since it looks like our Democratic state leaders can't stand up to the Republicans who control the state senate, one idea is to flip the damn state senate. It's a more achievable goal than you might think.