Letter to the editor: Reparations quietly instituted amid controversy over rising taxation

Pernicious legislation is nothing new to our super-majority Washington House and Senate and governor.

Last year’s horn of plenty taxes was an insult to all voters. This year’s “income tax” legislation may outshine last year’s dreadful performance that raised taxes on just about everything retail or service oriented.

With tax increases dominating the news, other egregious laws slipped into legislation with little fanfare or apparent interest.

House Bill 1474 passed into law in the middle of 2025. Unless you work with real estate or the state grants you $120,000 to buy your first house or completely forgives your loan after five years, you probably are not aware that Washington is now among the few states that pay “reparations.”

The new $100 increase in real estate filing fees (a tax) to pay reparations will be a wakeup call when you record any real estate transaction.

This law came into being as the result of a commission (RCW 43.181.030) designed to study discrimination in our housing market.

Who pays any attention to commissions slipped into existence by our Legislature?

Perhaps this is an accepted political practice to get around established law and constitutional constraints, and we should pay closer attention.

Because this law mostly benefits racial minorities it is unlikely to be challenged as unconstitutional. Our own Washington constitution, article one section 12, disallows the Legislature from privileging any special class or group of people over others.

I imagine our courts would rule that the $100 tax is a fee or, as in the past, an excise tax, and therefore not subject to constitutional arguments.

At some point we, those paying the taxes, may elect a Legislature more attuned to governing within their means and legislating for everybody.

I look forward to that day.

Gregory Riplinger

Centralia