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 In his State of the State address, Inslee proposed to fund a
working families tax rebate to help residents in rural and
economically disadvantaged areas, and spend $2.3 billion on
children's initiatives, including funding for 6,000 low-income
children to attend preschool.
In December, Inslee, a democrat, announced a plan for a new tax on
capital gains that would help close a $2.5 billion state budget
shortfall. By adding the new tax, the governor said on Tuesday that
he would be asking "the wealthiest Washingtonians to do a little
more."
Inslee's plan is likely to fuel disputes in the state legislature,
where the Senate is controlled by Republicans and the Democrats have
a majority in the House.
 As part of the "largest-ever state investment in early learning,"
Inslee said he wanted to fully fund class-size reductions in early
grade school, provide all-day kindergarten, and give teachers the
first cost-of-living adjustment in seven years.
Some funding would come from a new carbon cap-and-trade program,
announced last month, aimed at fighting global warming and raising
money for schools and transportation initiatives.
The program would place a cap on the amount of carbon that large
businesses and fuel distributors could emit. Companies would then
have the option to either reduce their carbon output, buy carbon
permits at state-run auctions, or purchase permits from other
businesses on the open market.
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"It is the growing threat of carbon pollution that can permanently
change the nature of Washington as we know it," Inslee said on
Tuesday. "Under my plan, it's the polluters who pay for the
pollution."
The carbon pollution charge would benefit transportation projects
through Washington, where the governor warned without action, there
would be a 52 percent cut in the maintenance budget, and 71 bridges
would become structurally deficient or obsolete.
The state had also found savings through efficiencies, such as $1.6
million annually on leasing costs and $3.5 million on Department of
Social and Health Services energy costs in 2013, Inslee said.
(Reporting By Robin Respaut; Editing by Bernard Orr)
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