CARBON TAX BILL

I'm Bob Larson. Even though voters soundly gave the governor's Carbon Tax initiative a solid "thumbs down," and while the job of fully-funding K-thru-12 education looms over their heads, a carbon tax bill is being kicked around.

Pomeroy Representative Jacqueline Maycumber says Senate Bill 5127 would impact everyone ...

JACQUELIN MAYCUMBER ... "Every person will be taxed. With the carbon tax, if your food is not grown exactly where you are, you're going to be taxed for the transportation of it, you're going to be taxed by going to work, you're going to be taxed by your employer who's doing the job. To explain it even further, last night at 10 pm, I received a notification on an article that explained that this carbon tax actually DE incentivizes the companies to be in Washington state. It is harder to do business here than it is, with the carbon tax, than anywhere else."

Maycumber says the carbon tax does nothing for the environment, and she's hoping it goes down ...

JACQUELIN MAYCUMBER ... "It doesn't look good at this point. I'm hoping there's still some common sense here in Olympia. But, carbon emissions from here in Washington state, from every vehicle, human, train, cow, is three-tenths of one percent. So, if everyone left the state, there was not a human in the state, we would still only save three-tenths of one percent of carbon emissions."

The Washington Farm Bureau has fought against a carbon tax saying the $2-billion dollars it's expected to generate over the next two years would be on the backs of farmers and ranchers.

Initiative 732 failed in November by an overwhelming 59 to 41 percent margin.