The Millionaires Tax is a win for the working class: Vote no on I-645
Hello, I'm Stacy. I'm a college student and cashier here in the Wenatchee Valley. I work 40 hours a week on top of a full-time class load. Around half of my income goes straight to paying off school, then the other half to basic living expenses. I am one paycheck, one car breakdown, or a bad hospital visit away from being dead broke. And for everyone I know, this is normal. I have friends and family working even harder — and for less pay. Low wages and high costs shouldn't be normal. Here in Washington, we have some of the richest people in the nation, so why does it feel like all of us are just scraping by?
For me, the answer is clear every April in tax season, where the richest people coast by on massive tax breaks while the lowest-income individuals here in Washington pay three times the share of our income in state and local taxes compared with the state’s highest earners. We are the people actually doing the work that makes our communities run — it just isn’t right that we pay more. We deserve a lot more.
In the valley, we have wonderful, hardworking families. I have had the chance to meet and work for a lot of small business owners here in Wenatchee. I’ve only ever worked for the local businesses here throughout my teens and now 20s, and let me tell you, local business owners are the ones who deserve the most chance to grow and benefit from tax relief, not these out-of-touch mega-millionaires who always put their profits first and locals second.
This past March we had a big win for people like us: the Millionaires Tax. This tax will only affect households that gross an annual income of $1 million or more. Meaning this tax will only affect half of one percent of households here in Washington. As much as I wish to be earning a million dollars a year, I won't have to pay that tax, and most likely you won’t either.
The money from the Millionaires Tax will go to funding higher education, health care programs, schools, and a free breakfast and lunch program for all students. Programs like free breakfast and lunch for all students are what's actually going to help our community in the immediate and long term. This is giving a real chance to invest in all children's future and well-being. When I went to grade school, my friends and I sometimes couldn’t afford a full meal. Our great teachers would bring granola bars to school for students like us before there was a free lunch program. A hungry belly all day is a stressor absolutely no kid should have to worry about. So this tax would make sure a kid goes to school confident they can eat.
Additionally, something I am excited to see as a result of the Millionaires Tax is that it takes away the sales tax on day-to-day hygiene products like diapers and medicine. Basic necessities like food, rent, and health care have skyrocketed. None of us can afford anything right now. What I see as a cashier is interesting, and I really care about the people I see every day. During the school year, I see teachers up early in the morning buying snacks and class decorations, paying for it out of their own pockets. In the summer, I see fieldworkers, ranging from teenagers to the elderly, coming in after work with cherries splattered on their shoes and exhausted.
In Wenatchee, we have such a booming diversity of people, and all of us are working towards a stronger community. So many are hard-working people fighting for what they deserve. A handful of mega-millionaires are trying to convince hard-working people like us that we will do better if we overturn the Millionaires Tax this fall, but we know we need the tax relief more than millionaires do. It's time for them to pay their fair share. I encourage everyone to vote NO on I-645.
Read the full opinion in Wenatchee World.
