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On Nov. 3, one of the issues we will be voting on is I-645, the initiative to repeal the “millionaires income tax.”
Vote no! Taxing the extremely wealthy more is the fair thing to do since they currently pay the lowest rate of any income bracket in Washington and hardworking Washingtonians need the services that the revenue would pay for.
The millionaires tax would lower taxes on the groups that need tax relief the most — small businesses and working families. It would pay for services for the people who need services the most; children, hardworking families and small businesses.
According to an article published by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) on March 30, Washington has the second most regressive taxes (a tax system that taxes people with lower income at a higher rate than higher income people) in the country.
Under our current system, families in the bottom 20% income bracket pay an effective tax rate more than three times what the tax rate is for the top 1%. This includes all federal and state taxes. The higher the income bracket, the lower the overall tax rate for residents of Washington.
The millionaires’ income tax would only tax the top one half of 1% of families. That means only one out of 200 families would pay. These are the people who pay the lowest percent of their income currently.
It is time they paid their fair share. It is not like the people that would pay the tax would suffer greatly. Nothing would change on the first million dollars of income they receive. After that, they would pay just 9.9 percent.
The millionaires’ tax would reduce the business and occupation tax on small businesses, which should help local business owners. These are the companies that have been struggling to compete with the big chain stores owned by out-of-state billionaires and investors.
The tax would help struggling families by expanding the Working Families Tax Credit to 460,000 families. It will also pay $320 million for affordable childcare in the first biennium. It would eliminate sales taxes on diapers, over-the-counter drugs and hygiene products.
Parents who work low wage jobs need these supports.
The millionaires’ tax would pay for free breakfast and lunch for every K-12 student. Children who are not hungry learn better.
Multi-millionaires are responsible for the petition to eliminate the millionaires’ tax. I-645 was promoted by the multi-millionaire hedge funder Brian Heywood.
It is supported by multi-millionaire John Braun, our state senator. They want a Washington where the wealthy get big tax breaks and the working class pays.
Vote no on I-645 to make the rich pay their fair share of taxes, to help small local businesses and to provide needed services for struggling working families and children.
Daniel Meekhof
Packwood
