OLYMPIA — Today at 1:30 PM on the front steps of the Legislative Building, Rep. Shaun Scott (D–Seattle) will announce the new Well Washington Fund proposal, designed to protect Washington’s working families from the devastating consequences of H.R. 1, the federal tax package passed by Congressional Republicans and Donald Trump.
“H.R. 1 is not a budget — it’s a billionaire bailout paid for by working people,” said Scott. “It hands permanent tax cuts to the ultra-rich while forcing states like Washington to absorb deep federal funding losses. My bill ensures that Washington doesn’t balance its books on the backs of working families.”
Washington already has one of the most regressive tax codes in the country, where the lowest-income households pay a far larger share of their income than millionaires and billionaires. H.R. 1 worsens that inequity by starving state budgets and forcing austerity unless states raise progressive revenue.
Scott’s proposal reflects a clear choice: Either allow H.R. 1 to lock in decades of cuts to schools, transit, behavioral health, childcare, and housing — or require the wealthiest to pay their fair share so Washington’s public services stay whole.
WHAT H.R. 1 MEANS FOR WASHINGTON:
- Transfers public wealth to the ultra-rich through permanent tax cuts for billionaires and corporations;
- Creates multi-billion-dollar holes in state budgets nationwide, including Washington’s;
- Shifts more costs onto working people, forcing states to choose between program cuts or new, regressive taxes.
“This is the oldest trick in the corporate playbook,” Scott said. “Starve the government, sabotage public services, then pretend austerity is the only answer. We don’t have to fall for it. Let’s stand together and choose investment over cuts.”
Press Conference Details
WHO:
Rep. Shaun Scott (D-Seattle)
Balance Our Tax Code
Tech4Taxes
WFSE
SEIU 775NW
Statewide Poverty Action Network
American Association of University Professors
Low Income Housing Alliance
WHAT: Announcement of new progressive revenue legislation responding to H.R. 1.
WHEN: Tuesday, December 2, 1:30 PM
WHERE: Steps of the Legislative Building, Olympia
WHY: To protect Washington families from federal austerity and ensure the ultra-wealthy — not working households — pay what they owe.
Rep. Scott will outline how his payroll excise tax proposal safeguards Washington’s essential services and continues the Legislature’s work to make the state’s upside-down tax code more fair — building on steps such as the capital gains tax on millionaires, closure of multinational corporate loopholes, and expansion of the Working Families Tax Credit. Scott will also discuss two other revenue proposals: The Wildfire Alleviation Support Act (HB 2089), which will devote $40 million annually to wildfire mitigation by closing a loophole enjoyed by big banks; and a County corporate tax bill that will give Washington counties the ability to raise business and occupation taxes for the first time in Washington State history.
“Budgets are moral documents,” Scott added. “H.R. 1 says public wealth belongs in private hands. I reject that. Austerity is a choice — and it’s the wrong one. Let’s refuse the politics of manufactured scarcity and demand a Washington that invests in all of us.”