18th District lawmakers plan another town hall tour

The lawmakers of Washington State’s 18th Legislative District have scheduled another round of town halls on Saturday following the conclusion of 2019’s legislative session.

Washington State Sen. Ann Rivers, R-La Center, and state Reps. Brandon Vick, R-Felida, and Larry Hoff, R-Vancouver will make appearances in Washougal, Yacolt and Salmon Creek May 25, according to a news release. Chief among the lawmakers’ concerns in the release were on the passed budget and tax increases.

“The governor will have just signed the new state budgets as well as the array of unnecessary new taxes that the three of us opposed – and one of those taxes directly affects Clark County,” Rivers stated in the release. “There’s also a lot of news to share about schools, health care and environmental regulations, and some of that will mean higher costs for our constituents as well.”

“The legislative session we recently finished directly impacts the people of Clark County. It is our job to listen and bring their voices back to Olympia as part of the legislative process,” added Vick, “We want to know how the session affects them and their community – whether it is the business and occupation taxes, the elimination of the nonresidential sales tax exemption, the massive increase in state spending or the potential for property taxes to go up substantially. Their input is important as we move toward the next session.”

“We know 18th District residents are concerned about what transpired during this year’s 105-day legislative session, so we wanted to make ourselves available to hear their thoughts and answer their questions,” Hoff stated in the release. “One topic I’m eager to discuss is the majority party’s lack of transparency in passing massive new tax increases, which is something editorial boards across the state have been weighing in on since session adjourned. I’m looking forward to hearing our constituents’ thoughts about that and much more when we meet on the 25th.”