Greetings from Olympia: "A Lack of Clarity" (Morning Fizz with video)

Morning Fizz (PUBLICOLA) with video from tvw:

All in all, the hearing seemed like a clever political move for the Republican-controlled Majority Coalition Caucus; they gave the opposition a hearing—but by lumping all the proposals together they were able to spin the Democrats' as tax fiends: The total hit to taxpayers by lumping all six proposals together (which no one is recommending)? $7.9 billion. "My pen ran out of ink," Republican committee member Sen. Michael Baumgartner (R-6, Spokane) said, referring to his attempt to add up the dollars. Another Democratic revenue proposal—one that's estimated to bring in $1.4 billion a biennium (exactly what the state needs to meet its K-12 obligation this cycle)—was MIA at the hearing: Democratic minority leader Sen. Ed Murray's (D-43, Capitol Hill) five percent capital gains tax proposal. Murray reportedly didn't get his proposal on the calendar in time. MORE...