Here are comments submitted as public testimony on SB 5794 before the Washington State Senate Ways and Means Committee on March 31, 2025

My name is Steve Zemke, speaking for Tax Sanity in supporting SB 5794 – . SB 5794 is a good start to clean up our broken tax exemption system. Of the 786 current tax exemptions in our state, this bill would clean up or eliminate some 80 exemptions, many of which are noted as “no taxpayers claim this preferred rate”  The tax savings is calculated as approximated $1 billion.

The WA State Dept. of Revenue in its 2024 tax exemption study projected that in 2025-2027 some $68 billion in revenue would be collected in state taxes. Taxpayer exemptions from these taxes were projected to be $115 billion.  Exemptions of $115 billion compared to revenue of $68 billion is equal to a 169% difference. More potential revenue is not collected, than revenue actually proposed to be collected.

SB 5794’s projected $1 billion reduction in state tax exemptions during this time period would create a reduction in state tax exemptions of only .8%, in other words less than 1%.

Please pass this bill and in the future include all discretionary tax exemptions in the state budget as projected expenditures as proposed in HB 1569 – increasing tax exemption transparency and accountability. All state expenditures need to be based on meeting state priorities.

separate note to this post –

SB 5794 – 2025-26 – adopting recommendations from the tax preference performance review process, eliminating obsolete tax preferences, clarifying legislative intent, and addressing changes in constitutional law.

Sponsors: 

Salomon, Lovelett, Alvarado, Bateman, Dhingra, Frame, Hasegawa, Nobles, Ramos, Riccelli, Trudeau, Wellman

Send a comment on this bill to your legislators

HB 1769 – 2025-26 – Increasing tax exemption transparency and accountability.

Sponsors: Pollet, Santos, Wylie, Fey, Thai, Goodman, Walen, Farivar, Doglio, Macri, Tharinger, Taylor, Bergquist, Kloba, Reeves, Hackney, Bernbaum, Scott, Nance, Peterson, Lekanoff, Berry, Gregerson, Parshley, Cortes, Ramel, Obras, Simmons, Ormsby, Salahuddin, Reed