| HeraldNet - Snohomish County's online news source |
 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2010 3:39 am |
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State income tax proposed for high earners OLYMPIA -- Senate Democrats introduced a bill Wednesday that would impose a 1 percent income tax on people making more than $500,000 a year.The bill sponsored by Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, comes shortly after Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, began pondering the possibility of a state income tax on her blog. On Tuesday, Brown noted that New York is considering a similar measure. Brown wrote that New York's plan to increase existing state income tax rates on top earners would be "a fair and stable way" of dealing with that state's declining revenue. Brown's staff, however, said the timing of the bill and Brown's postings were just a coincidence. Kohl-Welles introduced a similar measure in 2007, but it never gained traction. The bill would direct all money raised from the tax to an account that would be used for schools and colleges and universities. Washington is one of only a handful of states without a state income tax. In 1932, Washington voters approved an initiative establishing a personal income tax, but that was later struck down by the state Supreme Court. Since then voters have rejected state income tax proposals; the most recent one, in 1973, was defeated by 77 percent of voters. Brown did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment, but Kohl-Welles said in an e-mail Wednesday night that the bill "would not be a panacea." Kohl-Welles wrote that she believes major tax reform needs to take place in the state, but that it's not likely to happen this year. "But in the meantime we're crippling our public schools and colleges while having a very large number of millionaires in the state that would be paying an income tax if they lived in most any other state in the country," she said. "I think my proposal is very reasonable." One of the income tax bill's co-sponsors, Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, said he thinks some form of income tax is "absolutely necessary." But he also characterized the new bill as a conversation starter. "We're going to have to have some serious conversations about the role of government and the role of taxation," he said. "This is a bill to create a public dialogue about the role of taxation." Sen. Margarita Prentice, a Renton Democrat who is chairwoman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said she was inclined to give the measure a public hearing. "There's nothing wrong with having this kind of dialogue," she said. Minority Republicans immediately criticized the measure, saying that a "millionaire's tax" isn't the answer to the state's fiscal problems. "These rich guys are the ones who put money back into our economy," said Senate Minority Leader Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla. "They reinvest back into our economy, which creates the jobs that give lower-income people the ability to work." Lawmakers are trying to plug a projected $9 billion budget hole through mid-2011, and House and Senate Democrats introduced cut-heavy budget proposals earlier this week. Kohl-Welles' proposal would apply a 1 percent tax on income for single people with incomes of more than $500,000, more than $750,000 for a head of household, and more than $1 million for married couples. Under a voter-approved initiative, any taxes must be approved by two-thirds of the Legislature or go before voters. Now that both chambers have unveiled their draft budgets, top lawmakers begin high-pressure negotiations to find common ground and adjourn by an April 26 deadline. It's widely expected that voters will be asked to raise their own taxes to help avoid the deepest state budget cuts, particularly in education and health care. "This is somewhere between a gesture on one hand and a serious bill on the other," Kline said. "Sometimes you put things out there to check the response to determine whether it will remain a gesture, or whether by popular support it becomes something more." |
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(10) - State Senate votes to toss I-960's tax-raising hurdle (9)
- School levies in Snohomish County all passing, Marysville bond failing (6)
- A tidy lawn could be law in Lynnwood (4)
- County archive software paid for but waiting for set-up (3)
- Vote on school levies by Tuesday (3)
- Two suspects sought in Everett shooting that injured two (3)
- North Sound Christian girls winning with just six players (2)
- Schools do well in levy elections (2)
- Everett man charged with assault in attempt to circumcise son at home (2)
- Jackson girls outlast Meadowdale owdale
- OBT raises barre in children’s program
- Junior firefighters
- School levies passing
- Mavericks topple Wolfpack
- Get a second look at Second City Feb. 13
- Sports Briefs
- Warriors advance 11 to regional meet
- Arlington's Cascade Valley Hospital celebrates expansion, national award and 100 years of service
- Business Licences Feb. 2010
- Technology tips for launching your own business
- Business Events Feb. 2010
- Tech Talk: No excuse today for going without a Web site
- State already raising fees and rates that restrict business growth
- Some legislators again targeting people’s initiative petition rights
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