SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: Inslee’s 2020 State of the State doesn’t hide coming tax tsunami

Jan 15, 2020, 5:11 AM | Updated: 6:14 am

Jay Inslee, Time Magazine, 2020 State of the State...

Gov. Jay Inslee. (KIRO 7)

(KIRO 7)

Jay Inslee was excited in his 2020 State of the State speech. What was he excited about? He was thrilled over a new apple, free college, and Megan Rapinoe.

We have a lot of great athletes in this state. But if you want to get a shoutout in the 2020 State of the State, apparently you have to be the most loudly leftist.

He also told The Seattle Times that he wants to bring back the low-carbon fuel standard. What is that? It’s a euphemism for a gas tax. California has a low-carbon fuel standard that added 9 cents per gallon. We already have the second-highest gas tax in the nation, and now we need to add 9 cents more to every gallon?

Inslee wants to add to your gas bill to reduce your driving. The politicians have nothing but hatred and contempt for the suburban families that need cars to live their lives, for the moms and dads who need to be able to take their kids to soccer and piano lessons, and for the workers who cannot take their tools and other supplies with them on a bus or train. Inslee told The Seattle Times that the tax is all worth it if it means that people will start driving less.

Dori: Inslee’s 2019 State of the State blames you, not the Democrats in power

Remember, the state already wants a road usage charge — they would tax you for every mile that you drive. I am sure that they will incorporate variable pricing (different prices based on the hours at which you’re driving) in this tax, making each road in the state a toll road and hitting families for thousands of dollars every year.

As the Washington Policy Center’s Mariya Frost found, the Washington State Department of Transportation has stated that it wants a system that “encourages a reduction in vehicle travel and generates revenue that can be used to fund transportation alternatives.”

They want to punish you for driving instead of using mass transit.

And now Inslee wants to add to the gas tax, taking money from the people who must drive their cars for work and for family, and putting that money not toward roads, but toward the criminal mass transit systems. And when I say criminal, I mean it — a criminal investigation has been launched  into the Seattle Streetcar.

As always, I’ll stay on top of it and keep you informed. Together, we must fight this tsunami of taxes that is coming.

Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from 12-3 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Please follow our Community Guidelines

Associated Press

Asian shares are mixed as Brent crude approaches $100 a barrel

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mixed in cautious trading early Wednesday as investors watched for what might happen on interest rates and the war with Iran pushed oil prices higher. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was nearly unchanged at 65,249.95, and South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.2% to 7,041.10. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dipped […]

3 hours ago

President Donald Trump gestures while boarding Air Force One at Morristown Airport, Monday, Sept. 7...

Associated Press

With AI memes, Trump promotes mythical version of himself as challenges stack up ahead of midterms

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the real world, President Donald Trump is struggling to stop inflation, rout the Iranian government and restore American manufacturing with tariffs. However, it’s a different story in the fantastical vision that he shares with supporters on social media. Over Labor Day weekend, Trump and the White House unleashed an extraordinarily heavy […]

3 hours ago

FILE - Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., speaks as Dr. Anthony Fauci appears before the Senate Homeland S...

Associated Press

Sen. John Fetterman’s isolation from Democrats grows stark in Pennsylvania

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Around this time two years ago, Sen. John Fetterman was in high demand on the campaign trail, going county-to-county in Pennsylvania to help Democrats up and down the ballot. Now, after two years of crossing swords with Democrats and backing some of President Donald Trump’s priorities, he’s nowhere on the stump. […]

3 hours ago

FILE - The Apple logo is illuminated at a store in Munich, Germany, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthi...

Associated Press

Apple to unveil latest iPhone lineup with as John Ternus steps up as CEO

Apple is unveiling its latest generation of iPhones, widely expected to include a foldable version, on Wednesday at an event headlined by new CEO John Ternus, who took over from Tim Cook on Sept. 1. Many of Apple’s biggest rivals, such as Samsung, Motorola and Google, have already come out with foldable smartphones. But Apple […]

3 hours ago

The U.S. Capitol is seen, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)C...

Associated Press

A more perfect union? Congress has been the place where America tries to resolve its problems

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s one thing to issue a Declaration of Independence. It’s quite another to launch a grand experiment in representative democracy. Congress isn’t quite yet celebrating its 250th anniversary — the House and Senate as they are recognized today first convened in 1789 — but from the start it has provided an enduring, […]

3 hours ago

Candidate for Rhode Island governor Helena Buonanno Foulkes speaks during a Get Out the Vote event,...

Associated Press

Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee faces tough challenge from Helena Foulkes in Democratic primary

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee is hoping to avoid becoming the first incumbent governor in any state to lose a primary since 2018 as he tries to fend off an intraparty challenge from former CVS executive Helena Foulkes in Wednesday’s state primary. McKee narrowly defeated Foulkes in a multi-candidate Democratic primary […]

3 hours ago

Dori: Inslee’s 2020 State of the State doesn’t hide coming tax tsunami