OLYMPIA – Today State Sen. Drew MacEwen, R-Shelton, issued a formal demand for an immediate special session of the Washington State Legislature to address the compounding effects of skyrocketing fuel prices, hidden utility taxes, and looming double-digit electricity rate hikes.
MacEwen is calling on Gov. Bob Ferguson and the Legislature’s Democratic majority to stop ignoring the financial reality faced by Washington families as they bear the brunt of a “made-in-Olympia” affordability crisis.
As the Senate Republican Caucus Deputy Leader, MacEwen pointed to a perfect storm of rising costs and fiscal mismanagement. Recent filings show Northwest Natural Gas is seeking a 19% rate hike this summer, while Puget Sound Energy is pursuing cumulative increases of more than 30% for electricity and natural gas through 2029—spikes the utilities themselves attribute to costly policies enacted in Olympia.
“Washingtonians are being hit harder than any citizens of any other state because the Democratic majority has spent years building a system that treats the taxpayer like an ATM,” said MacEwen. “From 1990 to 2020, Washington consistently had the lowest or second-lowest residential energy rates in the country. We have now plummeted to seventh. Washington is now among the top ten most expensive states for natural gas in the continental U.S. and our gasoline prices are consistently the second- or third-highest in the nation, trailing only California and sometimes Hawaii.
“We cannot wait until next year to provide relief; we need to restore energy common-sense to our state now.”
MacEwen noted that the need for a special session is further underscored by the latest revenue-collection report from the state’s bipartisan Economic and Revenue Forecast Council, issued a week ago. It shows revenues are already $114 million below projections for the past two months. With an ending fund balance in the state budget at a razor-thin 0.29%, MacEwen argues that the state’s own precarious financial position is already likely to force lawmakers back to Olympia.
“The state’s bank account is nearly overdrawn because of reckless spending, even while revenues grew by 6.5% over the last year,” MacEwen continued. “If the governor is forced to call us back this summer to fix the state’s budget deficit, he should do it now so we can also fix the energy affordability crisis he and his party created with their costly policies. We must move away from the state-sanctioned price gouging that has characterized the past several sessions.”
MacEwen’s proposed legislative package for the special session includes:
- Immediate repeal of the Climate Commitment Act’s “cap-and-invest” gas tax premiums, which have added an estimated 50 to 60 cents per gallon to fuel costs.
- Emergency legislation for utility transparency, requiring providers to clearly disclose every dollar added to a ratepayer’s bill by state regulatory compliance fees and hidden carbon-related costs.
- A total halt on new environmental surcharges until a non-partisan economic impact study is completed to determine the true cumulative cost to consumers.
MacEwen concluded by noting that every day the governor refuses to convene a special session is another day the state chooses to prioritize a partisan agenda over the survival of the family budget. He urges constituents to join him in demanding that Olympia take accountability for the crisis it created.
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