Vashon Island news-record. [volume] (Vashon, Wash.) 1919-1954, 1923-01-26
REVENUE and TAX
PROGRAM CLARIFIES
Consideration of Expenditures
Likely to Continue Dur.
ing Session.

! Olympia Special 1.-The revenue
and taxation program of the legisla
ture began to take shape this week
but the work of limiting expenditures
and tightening the tax burden on prop
! erty probably will be before the law
makers in some form clear up to ad
journment.
The Lambert-Palmer bill fixing q
new fee schedule for filing articles OF
Incorporation and the payment of an
annual license by corporations is now
before the senate. In its original form
the bill was prohibitiye as applied to
some corporations and unavoidable in
other particulars. But in conferences
| with Secretary of State ]. Grant Hin
| kle, who has been a consistent and
| persistent advocate of q graduated fill,
ing and license fee system, the In
equalities have been ironed out.
Secretary of State Hinkle estimates
that the bill as it should pass the
| legislature will raise the annual re-
ceipts from these sources to approx
mately $1,000,000. The receipts now
are little more than third of that
sum. The net gain in revenues work
ed out in another way is shown to be
equal to more than half-mill in taxes
applied on the present valuation of all
property in the state.
Teeth in Budget Law.
A serial bond bill went into the
house this week and subcommittee
are working on budget law that will
have teeth in it. Extreme care is being
taken to make provision for meeting
actual emergencies but otherwise all
taX-spending officials will be held to
strict compliance with their budget
allowances.
Efforts are under way in committees
to revolutionize the method of financ-
ing highway construction and to limit
road levies. 1t is proposed to do away
with both the public (state) highway
fund levy of one mill and the perma-
nent County aid) highway fund levy
of mill and half. Committees are
trying to work out plan whereby
state highway construction will be
made Independent of all property taxeFs
but the construction Of lateral or con-
Meeting roads would be provided for
by property taxes levied by the eoun-
ties. AT the same time 1t is proposed
to reduce the limit on road and bridge
fund levies and on local road district
levies.
The roads and bridges committees
of both houses are urging the revenue
and taxation committees to expedite
legislation on highway funds so the
legislature will know exactly how
much money is to be provided for state
highway work during the coming BIZ
ennium. 1t therefore is probable that
the revised scheme of taxation and fee
collection for the support of highways
will cone from the revenue and taxa
ton committees within very short
time. Some of the highway appropria-
tions, the road and bridges committees
feel, should be made quickly SO adver-
Using for bids can start and some big
road projects be gotten under way
early in the Spring to enable their
completion this year.
Few Bills Introduced.
The records of the two houses show
very few bills introduced up to date
but legislative leaders point out that
there is mass of proposed legislation
in the committees that will find its
way into the session as committee bills.
This tendency to refer new legislation
to committees befc~e bringing in bills
has been growing of recent years. In
1913, for instance, there were 500 bills
introduced in the house and 466 in the
senate, total of 1921. This session,
ten years later, scarcely third of that
number are expected.
One workmen's compensation bill,
making radical increases in the COM
pensation allowed injured worl,men,
their dependent widows and children,
appeared in the house last week, This
is regarded as the bill favored by the
state federation of labor. Director Ed.