Dear friends and neighbors,
I wanted to update you on the Washington State Wealth Tax hearing this Thursday. We’ve already had more than 1,200 people sign up to support the bill in committee – that’s an excellent show of support, and I deeply appreciate everyone who’s added their name. But we need even more names on that list if we want to show the members of the committee how the public supports this bill – can I count on you to join us?
It’ll take less than 30 seconds to sign up to support the wealth tax – all you have to do is go to this link on the Legislature’s website, choose “Pro” as your position on the bill, put in your contact info into the form (your name will be publicly listed as a supporter, but your email, phone number, and address won’t be) and click “Submit Registration” at the bottom, and you’re done!
As you likely know, our Washington State Wealth Tax proposal is a property tax on the wealth that the richest people in the world hold – stocks, bonds, and other financial assets – with the first $250 million in assessed value exempted. That means you have to have at least a quarter of a billion dollars in wealth before you pay a dime of this tax.
And the money raised is dedicated to four funds — the Education Legacy Trust Fund, which is a dedicated funding source for early learning, K-12, and higher education; the Housing Trust Fund, which pays for the construction of affordable housing and the state’s down payment assistance program to increase access to homeownership; and two new funds created in the bill: a disabilities care trust account that will pay for services for Washingtonians with disabilities, and a taxpayer justice account that is intended to offer credits against taxes paid disproportionately by low-income and middle-income families. All of these are important priorities that I’ve heard a great deal about from my constituents, and having the wealthiest few pay what they owe in taxes will help us make these important investments.
If you haven’t yet, I hope you’ll join me and more than 1,200 of our fellow Washingtonians in supporting the Washington State Wealth Tax in the Ways & Means Committee – just click this link and fill out the form. Like I said, it’s an easy step for you to take, but when we all do it together, it shows the Legislature how broad the public support for this proposal is.
If you have any questions, feel free to let me know at Noel.Frame@leg.wa.gov. I’m working very hard to pass this bill into law, and I appreciate you joining me in that work. Thanks for your support!
Sen. Noel Frame
