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Gov. Gregoire likes some tax increases after all

• Published February 03, 2009

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In the governor’s race last fall, Republican Dino Rossi and Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire shared a disdain for new taxes.

Both said taxes would harm the economy, and Gregoire repeated her opposition to tax increases after the November revenue forecast opened a wider-than-expected shortfall in the 2009-11 budget.

But the governor this week laid out a little different view. She still opposes tax increases to cure her budget ills, she said. But she doesn’t mind reaping the benefit if Congress passes tax hikes.

In the case at hand, she said during her Monday press conference she doesn’t oppose a federal cigarette tax increase that will help pay for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. The 61-cents-per-pack proposal would raise the federal tax to about $1, on top of Washington’s tax of $2.025 per pack.

If a state increase in the tobacco tax would hurt the economy then presumably a federal tax would, too. But the difference, according to Gregoire, is authorship:

“I’m not voting on it. The people in the state of Washington are not voting on it,’’ she said.

Gregoire is headed Wednesday to Washington, D.C., to join President Barack Obama for his signing of the federal legislation that will send almost $100 million in extra funds to Washington.