Recently, both houses of the Washington State Legislature voted to suspend Initiative 960, which required a two-thirds vote in order to pass a tax increase for state residents.

Representatives from the 26th District voted not to suspend I-960.

Do you know who Rep. Ross Hunter and Sen. Lisa Brown are? They are the two Washington legislators who were the driving force behind the effort to suspend 960.

They are two of the most liberal Democrats in the Legislature.

Hunter and Brown support every tax increase proposed by Gov. Christine Gregoire. In other words, they want to tax you in as many ways as possible.

Gregoire has said that the 2010 Legislative session will be about jobs first, but how is increasing taxes going to create more jobs?

It won’t. It will only mean more layoffs and more small businesses going out of business.

If the Legislature does not give small businesses more tax breaks, we will not recover from this so-called “bad economy.”

Lawmakers like Brown and Hunter are very powerful, and believe me, they are not your friends — unless you enjoy new taxes, higher existing taxes and maybe a state income tax.

Call the Legislature’s Hotline at (800) 562-6000 and tall these lawmakers “Shame on you for voting to raise tax and override the will of Washington’s voters by suspending I-960.”

Rob Daugherty is an Ollala resident.