Author Archives: Erik Smith

Majority approves bills that would increase gas prices, raise taxes

Unfortunately, the majority has spent the first four weeks of this year’s 60-day legislative session passing bills that would hit Washington families and businesses hard.

Last week, they brought a bill to the floor (House Bill 1110) that would impose a low-carbon fuel standard mandate on fuel suppliers. The mandate would significantly increase suppliers’ costs, but it’s you and I who would ultimately pay the bill. After all, when the government imposes mandates on businesses that increase their costs and make it harder for them to survive, those costs are always passed down to the consumer. If HB 1110 becomes law, gas prices would increase, as would grocery prices. Material and transportation costs would also rise, resulting in a slowdown in a variety of industries. In exchange for all of this, we might potentially reduce the carbon in our atmosphere by a fraction of a percent every year. That’s a trade-off that simply doesn’t make sense.

This week, the majority brought a bill to the floor to “fix” the B&O tax increase they passed on 85,000 businesses last session. Since the new tax didn’t bring in quite as much revenue as expected, they’re looking to expand it to 4,400 more businesses. When ESSB 6492 came to the floor Thursday, I delivered the following remarks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOl1YK9Yt7I

Working to provide greater access to career and technical education

For the second time in as many years, the House has approved a bill I’ve sponsored to provide students greater access to career and technical education (CTE). Under House Bill 1304, the Vocational Alternative Learning Experience Pilot Program would be established. I believe the program would showcase the value of providing state funding for the expansion of CTE instruction in alternative learning experience schools. Currently, the law prohibits these schools from receiving enhanced funding for CTE courses.

I sponsored this bill because students who choose to pursue a non-traditional educational path deserve the state’s full backing. I’m encouraged by the 95-1 vote the bill received in the House, and am working hard to make sure it advances out of the Senate and gets to the governor’s desk this year.

Sponsoring 15-year-old student Imara Bhanji as a House page

This week, I had the opportunity to sponsor 15-year-old student Imara Bhanji as a page here in the state House. Imara attends Washington Virtual Academy, and her interests include golf (one of my interests as well), programming, art, and piano. During her week at the Capitol, she attended page school every day and carried out a number of critical duties that helped keep things running efficiently. Thank you, Imara!

Contacting me

Please continue contacting me with your comments, questions and concerns. My email address is drew.macewen@leg.wa.gov, and my phone number is (360) 786-7902.

It is an honor to serve you.

Rep. MacEwen speaks out against Democrats’ B&O tax increase

Rep. Drew MacEwen speaks out against ESSB 6492, which would expand an existing B&O tax increase to roughly 4,400 more businesses in Washington state. These businesses provide jobs to more than 465,000 Washingtonians.

https://youtu.be/DOl1YK9Yt7I

Rep. MacEwen joins KELA to provide an update on the 2020 session

Joining KELA’s Peter Abbarno, Rep. Drew MacEwen, R-Union, shares his thoughts on some of the most surprising bills of the session thus far. He also talks about his role as the ranking Republican on the House Commerce and Gaming Committee, and discusses a bill that would sports betting in tribal casinos. The 35th District lawmaker also outlines House Republican priorities for the remainder of the 2020 session.

House approves MacEwen bill to provide greater access to career and technical education

For the second time in as many years, the Washington State House of Representatives has approved a bill sponsored by Rep. Drew MacEwen to provide greater access to career and technical education (CTE).

Under House Bill 1304, approved with a 95-1 vote Wednesday, the Vocational Alternative Learning Experience Pilot Program would be established. MacEwen, R-Union, believes the program would showcase the value of providing state funding for the expansion of CTE instruction in alternative learning experience (ALE) schools. Under current law, ALE schools are ineligible to receive enhanced funding for CTE.

“Career and technical education is vital to Washington state and our future economic prospects in an ever-evolving world,” said MacEwen. “Students who choose to pursue a non-traditional educational path deserve the state’s full backing. If House Bill 1304 becomes law, I’m confident the pilot program will yield the relevant information we need to secure CTE funding enhancements for ALE schools for years to come.”

As many as 10 school districts would be chosen by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to participate in the pilot program, including two with multidistrict online school programs. Each district would participate for four complete school years, starting in the 2020-21 school year.

By Jan. 1, 2026, OSPI would be required to submit a report on the following:

  • The number of students participating in the pilot program that received the vocational program funding enhancement;
  • The impact of the program to career and technical education programming;
  • The fiscal impact of the program;
  • Recommendations for statewide implementation; and
  • Any other information deemed relevant by the OSPI.

The 2020 legislative session began Monday, Jan. 13.

Rep. MacEwen joins KMAS to discuss $30 car tabs and sports betting

In week two of the 2020 legislative session, Rep. Drew MacEwen, R- Union, talks with KMAS’s Jeff Slakey about the latest from Olympia. Topics include: recent pro-life and pro-Second Amendment rallies at the Capitol, transportation budget negotiations to facilitate $30 car tabs, the potential impact of legalizing sports betting in Washington state, and bills that could affect the evolving marijuana industry, including one that would ban billboard advertising for marijuana products.

Week one of this year’s 60-day legislative session is in the books

Thank you for subscribing to my legislative email updates. Topics in this update include:

  • House Republican priorities for this session
  • Survey question: Should the Legislature legalize sports betting in Washington state?
  • Weekly interview on iFIBEROne News Radio
  • Continuing to keep a record of my legislative meetings
  • Contacting me

As another session gets under way, I want to encourage you to get involved in the legislative process. I know that can be a daunting task if you don’t know where to start, which is why I’ve provided you with a number of links I hope will be helpful as this year’s 60-day session progresses.

  • Follow House Republicans on Twitter and Facebook, and please share our posts.
  • Bookmark and visit The Ledger every day. The Ledger is our new legislative news aggregator that features the biggest stories from around the state, as well as all House Republican communications.
  • Watch TVW’s “Legislative Review,” which airs nightly and gives viewers a 15-minute overview of what happened that day at the Capitol.
  • Visit the Washington State Legislature’s website to view a list of bills by topic and learn how to testify on a bill in committee.

Please also feel free to email me any time with comments, questions or concerns.

House Republican priorities for this session

During the long interim, the 40 of us in the House Republican Caucus got together on several occasions to discuss what we wanted our agenda to look like this year. After much deliberation, we decided our focus should be on safety, affordability and accountability, with our slogan being: “It’s Your Home. Expect More.”

Our argument is simple: You should expect more from those who control the agenda and the purse strings here in Olympia. Under one-party control, many parts of our state have become less safe and less affordable, and there’s been a complete lack of accountability for the long list of failures we’ve seen in recent years.

As House Republicans, we’re focused on developing solutions to provide a better way forward for Washington state. We want people to feel safe in their communities. We want to eliminate unnecessary financial burdens that make it harder to get ahead. And finally, we want all Washingtonians to feel confident their government is working for them.

Please visit the priorities page on our caucus website to learn more about our agenda and the solutions we’re proposing.

One issue that that falls under both the ‘affordable’ and ‘accountable’ parts of our agenda is $30 car tabs, which were approved by 53 percent of voters in November. While some politicians and activists are working overtime to ensure you never see a reduction in your car tab fees, House Republicans are doing the opposite. Earlier this week, we rolled out a comprehensive transportation package to implement $30 car tabs, establish a new transportation funding source without raising taxes, and cut WSDOT bureaucracy instead of projects.

One of my bills, House Bill 2323, is part of the package. It would phase in a shift of the state sales tax on motor vehicles (in increments of 10 percent for the next 10 years) to pay for cash-based preservation and maintenance projects. If we were to implement this reform over time, our operating budget could absorb the change and we would address the preservation and maintenance needs of our transportation system for years to come. This approach would generate an estimated $117.5 million in revenue for transportation in 2021 alone.

To learn more about our transportation solutions, click here. I also had the opportunity to touch on them earlier this week during our House and Senate Republican press conference. Watch:

Survey question: Should the Legislature legalize sports betting in Washington state?

A couple of bills have been introduced this session that would legalize sports betting in Washington state, and I want your thoughts. First, I want to know whether you support or oppose legalizing sports betting. Second, for those of you who DO support legalization, I want to know which of the two approaches you prefer.

Please click here to take my survey, and thank you in advance for your responses!

Weekly interview on iFIBEROne News Radio

Every Wednesday at 7:40 a.m., I will be live on iFIBEROne News Radio to talk with Jeff Slakey and give a brief legislative update to listeners. I want to thank Jeff for the opportunity to be on his program every week. To listen to these interviews, I invite you tune in live or visit my SoundCloud page.

Continuing to keep a record of my legislative meetings

In the interest of full transparency, I will be providing PDFs of my weekly meetings during the 2020 session, just as I did last session. Click here for a list of meetings I held or attended during the first week of session.

Contacting me

The most important part of my job is listening to you. Please contact me any time to share your comments, questions and concerns about the legislative session or anything else that’s on your mind.

It is an honor to serve you.

On KMAS, Rep. Drew MacEwen reacts to Gov. Inslee’s State of the State address and discusses a number key legislative issues

During his weekly session interview on KMAS, Rep. Drew MacEwen, R- Union, comments on Gov. Inslee’s State of the State address and new Speaker of the House Laurie Jinkins. He also discusses the issues of homelessness and affordable housing.