Friends and neighbors,
We are in the final stages of the legislative session here in Olympia, and I wanted to provide you with an update on our efforts to fix our regressive tax code and improve education in Washington.
Video: My take on the Millionaires Tax. [Click to play]
As I write this, it is after midnight, and I am on the House Floor as we debate the historic passage of the Millionaires Tax. We have just adopted an amendment that I proposed and fought for to ensure a portion of the revenue from the Millionaires Tax will be used to INCREASE funding for our children’s schools. “Amply providing” for public education is our Paramount Duty under the State Constitution.
I’ve stood for three principles in fighting to make our tax system fairer and more sustainable:
- Our lowest-income and working families need to have real tax relief while the wealthiest people in Washington begin to pay their fair share for the Washington State we all want to live in.
– A working mother earning $40,000 a year and paying 14% of her income in state and local taxes needs to have real relief for her family. If millionaires –who only pay 4% of their income in state and local taxes – pay more, but her family is not better off, we haven’t made our tax system fairer. - We have to sustainably increase our funding for our Paramount Duty of public education.
– It is not ok to say the Millionaires tax would simply “maintain” funding for schools. Our schools are falling further and further into deficits with cuts that deny our children their right to education. After weeks of advocacy, I secured the language adopted to INCREASE funding for basic education “by strengthening high-quality instruction and expanding student supports.” - We shouldn’t be giving massive tax breaks to corporations in a bill that is supposed to make our tax system fairer.
– I was one of a dozen Democrats who stood up for this principle and succeeded in removing a corporate tax giveaway of $600 million in one year from the Millionaires Tax. As KUOW reported:
“The Washington State House Finance Committee made revisions to a proposed income tax after a group of progressive lawmakers said the previous version gave away too much while not doing enough for working families.
A tax break that would have benefited big businesses has been removed from the latest version of a bill to tax incomes more than $1 million is being advanced by Democratic leaders. A group of 13 progressive lawmakers in the House pushed for those provisions to be stripped. We should be helping small businesses. And this bill exempts truly small businesses with under $300,000 in revenue from the B&O tax.”
What is the Millionaires Tax?
- In the simplest terms, the Millionaires Tax is a 9.9% tax on households earning over $1 million per year.
- If a household makes $1,000,500 each year, the tax will only apply to that $500. In this example, total taxes owed would be approximately $50.
- This tax would be paid by around 20,000 households in our state, or less than 1% of the wealthiest people in Washington.
Passing the Millionaires Tax is going to be a marathon lasting all night and into the next day. But this historic change is worth it for all of us who are supporting it.
I am fighting to fix our upside-down tax system because it directly relates to funding our paramount duty, and to funding childcare and early learning programs. I continue to work to ensure access to these critical resources. My latest video discusses how we are protecting critical programs to care for and teach our littlest residents.
Video: Protecting childcare and early learning. [Click to play]
Please reach out with any questions, ideas, or concerns you may have. I look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you,
Rep. Gerry Pollet