Chase: “Passage of the levy cliff bill makes our students, educators the winners today”

Sen. Maralyn Chase, D-Edmonds, released the following statement after the Senate passed Senate Bill 5023 that will prevent a historic cut to local levy dollars across the state of Washington:

“Passage of the levy cliff bill makes our students, educators and school districts the real winners today.

“In my own district, the Edmonds School District was poised to lose more than $14 million, Seattle would lose $74 million, and Shoreline would lose $4 million if the Senate had failed to address the levy cliff. Those locally approved funds are critically needed to facilitate learning, fund our teachers and educators, and support our students.

“Our state has the most upside down tax structure in the nation – where the wealthy pay less in taxes than the rest of us. We have also given away nearly $40 billion of our tax base. I believe these are key areas to look at when we consider the looming task before the legislature to fully and fairly fund basic education in our state.

“It took nearly a quarter of a school year, 44 days, after the House voted on this bill to get to the floor of the Senate for a vote. I am hopeful that we will apply a heightened sense of urgency to addressing education funding – there is much work to be done.”