E-Newsletter

Greetings from Olympia:

We’re nearing the end of the 2008 legislative session, and I want to update you on some of the bills I’ve sponsored to help strengthen Washington families and our communities. Here are a few key areas I’ve been focusing on:

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

I sponsored three significant bills dealing with housing and property taxes during the November special session and the 2008 regular session:

First, Senate Bill 6178 was passed and signed into law in November to expand our state property tax deferral program to help those at the greatest financial risk of losing their home.

Some of these people have been in their home twenty, thirty or fifty years, and now, find themselves at a place where they just can’t keep up with the increasing costs of keeping their family home – not to mention keeping up with gas prices and health care costs.

This program essentially gives the people who need it most a ‘grace period’ from their property taxes. My bill allows families who have a combined disposable income of less than $57,000 to take advantage of the program, deferring half of their property taxes each year until the house is sold or transferred. This isn’t a magic bullet, but it's an immediate step to help thousands of families.

Providing affordable housing in South King County and around the state is important as more families face home prices they cannot afford and higher mortgage rates, that’s why I sponsored Senate Bill 6332, increasing the debt limit of our state Housing Finance Commission. This is the group that finances low and moderate income houses and apartments and also helps new farmers.

The bill increasing their debt limit imposes no additional cost on the state budget, but does give the self-funding commission the capacity to build more than 8,000 new places for people to call home. It also opens the door to low and moderate-income families to the American dream of home ownership. Click here to listen to a radio story about this legislation.

Many families are dealing with home foreclosure, and I have a bill that would help some of these families get back on top of their mortgage payments. Senate Bill 6711, the smart homeownership choices program, would provide emergency funds for middle class and low income families facing foreclosure. Homeowners that receive this help will repay what they are lent and attend a mortgage counseling program.

I was very happy to see these bills pass the Senate unanimously and will work to ensure they pass the Legislature and are signed by Gov. Gregoire.

CONSUMER PRIVACY

Our privacy as consumers is threatened more and more as technology advances. This session I sponsored a bill to regulate electronic data recorders in cars – currently these “black boxes” in many newer cars aren’t regulated. The devices monitor whether or not you’re wearing your seat belt and how fast you're driving. This bill has bipartisan support and passed the Senate 42-6. Click here to hear a radio story about this legislation.

THE ECONOMY

In this time of economic uncertainty, I'm focusing on ways we can stop the squeeze on the middle class. From gas prices to health care bills and utility costs, many of us are feeling the crunch like never before.

Our state economy is healthy and our unemployment numbers are lower here than nationwide. Our state budget is strong, placing a significant amount of money – almost $755 million – into reserves. But we also have seen our national economy begin to slow.

During this time of uncertainty, it’s a priority of mine to prepare for the rainy days, and to work on legislation that helps the middle class, seniors, and the working poor. There are three good proposals for tax relief this session.

To honor our disabled and senior veterans and relieve some of their property tax burden, we are exempting 100 percent-disabled veterans benefits from calculations for the senior and disabled property tax exemption and deferral programs. This helps provided relief for an additional 1,150 our of state’s disabled senior veterans.

To help our seniors and disabled individuals struggling with their property taxes, we increase the disposable income thresholds by $5,000 each to qualify for the senior and disabled property tax exemption and deferral program, and increase the valuation freeze to $40,000. This could help as many as 25,700 additional seniors and disabled individuals per year.

We are also providing tax relief for our low-wage workers. The working families tax credit refunds some of the state sales tax to low-wage working people who qualify for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit. This will lighten our unfair tax burden and, depending on family size, could put up to $470 back in the pockets of people who need it most. Up to 350,000 working Washington residents would qualify for the rebate.

Keep in touch

We are nearing the end of the short 60-day legislative session. We’re scheduled to adjourn March 13 or before. After the session ends, I will return to my family and our district until the next session begins in January 2009.

I look forward to hearing about your priorities. Please don’t hesitate to contact me at my office in Olympia at 360-786-7692, or at kauffman.claudia@leg.wa.gov.

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