Lawmakers made our tax code more fair, but cuts will still hurt families

This column was originally published in My Edmonds News.

As the leader of a statewide organization fighting for a fairer tax code, I’m proud of the progress we made this legislative session. Washington lawmakers took significant steps toward progressive revenue, ones that reflect the will of voters and are important wins in our fight for a tax system that works for all of us. As a parent in the Edmonds School District, I’m especially relieved that lawmakers found new sources of funding rather than slashing investments in our schools. While we didn’t get everything we hoped for, the session brought positive changes and important discussions about how to fund essential services in a more equitable way.

Here are my takeaways and what I think we need to do to keep making strides to ensure the wealthiest contribute their fair share.

When lawmakers entered the session in January, they faced a massive $12 billion budget deficit. Despite a strong economy, our tax code — one that disproportionately favors the wealthy — left the state struggling to meet increasing demands for services. From rising costs in health care, education and social services to inflation-driven budget shortfalls, the challenge was clear: We needed new revenue sources to keep vital programs running.

Lawmakers faced a critical choice: find new sources of revenue to sustain life-saving programs like child care, education, health care and long-term care, or cut these services and balance the budget on the backs of families, children, and working people.

Thanks to the advocacy of our 130,000 activists, along with our partners, we lifted up the voices of those most impacted by budget decisions. Teachers, parents, health care workers and others who rely on state services shared their stories, reminding lawmakers that the choices they made would affect real people, not just numbers on a spreadsheet.

One of the most exciting takeaways from this session was the number of progressive revenue proposals that gained traction. Progressive revenue means asking those who can afford to contribute more — especially the wealthiest individuals and corporations — to pay a fair share toward funding public services. For example, expanding taxes on the wealthiest individuals and closing tax loopholes for special interests are proposals that ask those with the most to pay more while preventing cuts to some essential services.

In the end, lawmakers successfully avoided $9.4 billion in cuts to education, health care, housing and other services by raising revenue through:

– Expanding the capital gains tax and estate tax on billionaires to fund education;

– Closing tax loopholes for special interests like gold bullion sellers and international brokers;

– Introducing a modest 5% business tax on the biggest and most profitable corporations with taxable income over $250 million.

Although this new revenue will help, it’s important to note that some changes, like raising the amount of funding local school districts can ask voters to approve through property tax levies, still favor wealthier communities. In Edmonds, this change may allow us to pass higher levies, but it doesn’t address the broader issue that property values don’t always reflect a family’s ability to pay and it exacerbates the inequity in our school funding. It deepens the divide between school districts like ours that have more resources and those that are struggling.

This session lawmakers considered an unprecedented number of progressive revenue options. However, corporate lobbyists successfully blocked other important proposals, such as a payroll tax and a tax on financial wealth, leaving a $5 billion gap in the budget over the next four years.

Still, we achieved significant wins. Thanks to the decisions made this year, we’re not facing the deep, devastating cuts to early learning, child care, and health care programs that we feared. While lawmakers had to make some tough choices, they ensured that essential services will remain in place for the people who need them most.

I’m proud that we united to call on the Legislature to pass revenue solutions that ask the wealthiest individuals and corporations to do their part. People from all corners of the state and all walks of life came together again, just like when we successfully defeated Initiative 2109 and protected the state’s capital gains tax. Our victory in passing the capital gains tax in 2021, despite fierce opposition from powerful, well-funded interests, has already generated over $1 billion to support early learning, child care and education.

We are closer than ever to creating a tax system that is truly fair, and I am more hopeful than ever that we will get there. This year, the results weren’t perfect, but we made real progress. Together, we continue to build a better, more just future for Washington.