Funding education & fixing the tax code
The state has not met its obligation to fully fund public schools for nearly 40 years. Part of the problem is a lack of necessary funding, so raising new revenue was imperative this session. Both Democrats and Republicans agreed new revenue was needed to fund our schools, but had drastically different ideas on how to go about raising it.
Throughout this session, my focus within the education funding debate was to ensure we met our obligation, but not by overburdening the middle class and working poor, who already pay seven times more in taxes than the wealthiest among us in this state. While some felt reforming the tax structure wasn’t necessary to finding an education funding solution, I felt it needed to be, given the magnitude of the funding needs under consideration.
For months, the Senate Republicans refused to negotiate on the budget. Because of their inaction, we faced a potential disastrous government shutdown. In that light, our options were to either shutdown the government or consider a version of their statewide property tax to fund education. Although we avoided a shutdown and draconian cuts to critical safety net programs, many of the same people who rely on those programs were asked to pay more in taxes. At the same time, the wealthiest among us weren’t being asked to pay their fair share. Because of that unfair proposal, I voted against the education funding bill.
I also voted against every bill aimed at creating new or extended tax exemptions. While I agreed with some of the policies within the legislation, we need to fix the entire tax structure, not continue to pick winners and losers in the tax code. I’m pleased to report that Governor Inslee ultimately honored a request I led, along with 25 of my colleagues, to veto a portion of the bill providing special tax cuts to manufacturers. This proposal was never considered before the House Finance Committee, legislators did not have full budget impact analysis before the vote, and we found out after the bill passed it that at full implementation it would have deprived the state of almost $70 million a year of needed revenue.
The state has very real problems with how we fund our priorities, and I will continue to fight for a tax structure that does not rest on the backs of the middle class, working families, and small businesses. The new budget includes a bipartisan workgroup to lead discussions on comprehensive tax reform across the state. I’m the Democratic appointee, and will be involved in this effort now through the end of 2018. I look forward to updating you on our progress!
Look out for more updates next week, when I’ll discuss the progress we made toward expanding access to opportunity and breaking down barriers to success.
Sincerely,
