Policy Council Recap: Budget, trade & crime dominate discussion

The Bellevue Chamber’s Policy Council met this last week to recap what is going down politically at the state, federal, and local level, so let’s get into it, in that order. 

On the topic of state budget & taxes …

While state spending has grown 40% in the last four years, tax revenue has only increased 25%, despite over 50 new taxes and fees being introduced in the last decade. So while our economy is strong and we are experiencing growth in revenue, the budget is not balanced and there has been an increase in concern over government accountability and spending inefficiencies. 

For example, despite the $5.3 billion spent on homelessness, we have seen a 71% increase in the homeless population. 

Thus, attention has shifted onto raising citizen awareness, with Paul Graves, president of Enterprise Washington, speaking on the importance of helping Washington residents understand taxes, spending trends, and budget forecasts in the long term. 

“Our goal is to have this be a long-term, continual thing as well,” he said. “It's one thing to have this particular year's budget and this particular year's taxes to focus on and have discussions about, but it's another thing to try to have a longer term discussion with Washington voters about what this all means for their pocketbooks and for the state of the economy of our state as a whole.” 

On the topic of federal trade and tariffs …

Chris Eyler, vice president of Congressional and public affairs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, chimed in to reinforce the Chamber’s long-standing opposition to broad and unstrategic tariffs. 

“[We have] a nearly 113 year history of opposing broad-based, non-strategically targeted tariffs because they are nothing more than a tax on Americans.” he said, “They hurt our manufacturers, because what a lot of what we are importing are inputs that our manufacturers use to build things right here in the country, and they undoubtedly will, as we are seeing, welcome retaliation from those countries that we are imposing tariffs on.”

On the topic of local crime statistics …

The Policy Council also addressed concerns about the increase in public disorder crimes here in Bellevue, with a focus on implementing minimum sentencing laws for repeat offenders. Shoplifting and vehicle prowling were the most prevalent public disorder crimes described by the Bellevue City Council a few weeks ago, with the group[ ultimately taking no position but monitoring developments from City staff as we gear up for the launch of Bellevue Community Court later this summer. 

As the legislative session continues, these topics — and many more – remain at the front of policymaking, shaping the months ahead. Stay tuned for more updates!