Issue Position: Fixing our Broken Tax System

Issue Position

Washington is dead last, with the most regressive tax system in all 50 states. Simply put, folks in the bottom 20% of the wealth spectrum pay seven (7) times more of their income in taxes than those in the upper 1%. And while we are all feeling the property tax hike, those on a fixed income, folks with health issues, our veterans and working families are feeling it much more. Enough is enough, and it's long past time to fix our broken tax system.

Last year, when Republicans controlled the Senate, the only revenue option they supported was a substantial increase in property taxes. That was by design. First, so Republicans could go back to their districts and say they did not vote for any "new" taxes. Second, they knew those of us who lived west of the mountains would shoulder the lion's share of the burden. I voted NO, in large part because I knew a substantial hike in property taxes would cause some of my constituents to lose their homes.]

We are tax fatigued. So the incremental addition of new taxes is not the answer. Changing our entire tax structure to a more progressive approach is part of the solution. That includes reducing regressive taxes like property and sale tax, reforming the ridiculous B&O tax, and adopting better, more progressive options, like a capital gains tax. The bill to include a capital gains tax would have affected less than 1% of the 7.1 million people who live in our state, but would have raised about $1B per year dedicated to education. It would have done all that without affecting retirement accounts, sale of your home, agricultural property and equipment or the first $25,000 of profit if single/$50,000 if married.

It also includes creating a public infrastructure bank that keeps our tax dollars in our state, funding infrastructure and economic development with much lower interest rates, and paying ourselves back. In other words, a bank that makes money for the people of the state. We moved a step closer to that reality this past session under Democratic leadership with a budget proviso to hire professional banking consultants to develop a business plan to create the country's second public banking institution in 100 years.

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