May 16, 2024
In this issue:
- Congress is sending less child care help, so states like WA are stepping in
- I’m a child care provider. Washington’s capital gains tax is critical for the families I serve.
- WA decides: Initiative 2109 to repeal the state’s capital gains tax
- It’s time to tax the billionaires
Child care is critical infrastructure for Washington. Access to affordable, high-quality child care provides options for working families, a strong foundation for early learners, and much-needed jobs. And right now, the capital gains tax brings in crucial funding for child care and education across the state.
But Initiative 2109 on this fall’s ballot will repeal the capital gains tax, giving the super-rich a tax cut at the expense of the rest of us. If I-2109 passes, it won’t just impact young children and parents – it will have devastating impacts on small businesses and communities too.
Washington businesses lose more than $2 billion each year as working parents struggle to find accessible, affordable child care. By cutting billions from child care funding, I-2109 will only make this problem worse, and will shift the tax pressure to small businesses and working families to make up the difference.
We know that together, we can defeat I-2109. Add your name now to be a BUSINESS early endorser of the NO I-2109 campaign! Join small businesses, children’s advocates, teachers, and community members in saying NO to I-2109 – no cuts to education and child care funding, no tax cuts for mega-millionaires, no shifting tax pressure to the rest of us.
-Treasure
p.s. – you can learn more about how I-2109 will hurt businesses here!
CONGRESS IS SENDING LESS CHILD CARE HELP, SO STATES LIKE WA ARE STEPPING IN
“Across the country, the story for families is virtually the same: Child care is unaffordable for many, hard to find for those who can pay and financially precarious for day care operators and their employees. The Biden administration and Congress tried to alleviate some of these problems when the pandemic crippled the child care industry. But as the record $52.5 billion in relief winds down, many states have stepped in with their own solutions.
Washington has put a new tax on investment profits. And it’s promising to offer free preschool to all low-income families and child care vouchers to all low- and moderate-income families by the end of the decade. We’ve made systemic changes, said state Sen. Claire Wilson, D-Auburn. It used to be that our child care programs served only families in poverty, and that’s not the case now.
The state is expanding its programs with help from a new 7% tax on certain profits made from residents’ financial investments — a levy intended to fall on wealthier people that collected nearly $900 million last year.
In November, Washington voters will have a chance to weigh in on the capital gains tax in a referendum that could lead to its repeal, endangering progress the state has made, child care advocates say. It would be catastrophic to lose that revenue.”
More – Daniel Beekman, Moriah Balingit, Susan Montoya Bryan & Dylan Lovan, The Seattle Times
I’M A CHILD CARE PROVIDER.
WASHINGTON’S CAPITAL GAINS TAX IS CRITICAL FOR THE FAMILIES I SERVE
“As the owner of a bilingual child care center, I’m up every day before 6 a.m. to make sure the kids at my center get started with a high-quality, safe education while their parents are at work. Access to child care was critical for working families during the pandemic and still today.
High-quality child care is expensive, and the new capital gains tax helps families afford the cost. By taxing the enormous profits the super-rich earn by selling stocks and bonds, our state brought in almost $900 million last year. This revenue helps to make quality care at child care facilities like mine more affordable for families, provides resources to K-12 public schools, and helps pay for school repairs and construction across the state.
Unfortunately, a hedge fund manager and the state’s Republican Party chairman teamed up to propose Initiative 2109, which would repeal the capital gains tax. That measure will appear on this November’s ballot. It could cost our kids and schools billions of dollars over the coming years and would give a tax break to millionaires and billionaires.
If I-2109 passes, it would be catastrophic for my small business and families who could no longer afford care. Missed learning for children and missed hours for working parents won’t help Washington. It’s disappointing that the wealthy few care more about a tax break than the future of our kids. The capital gains tax is crucial for supporting these services and so many other important programs for children in Washington.”
More – Diana Llanes Macias, Washington State Standard
WA DECIDES: INITIATIVE 2109 TO REPEAL THE STATE’S CAPITAL GAINS TAX
“Initiative 2109 would repeal Washington’s capital gains tax, a 7% tax on the sale or exchange of long-term capital assets, such as stocks, bonds, and business interests.
The capital gains tax generated about $890 million in its first year. To put that number into perspective, the state’s current two-year operating budget is nearly $72 billion. If the tax is repealed, it’ll mean a big hole in the budget, Sen. June Robinson, D-Everett, who chairs the Senate Ways and Means Committee and authored the capital gains tax bill, said earlier this year.
Washington’s tax system has long been considered among the most regressive in the country, meaning lower earners pay proportionally more of their income than wealthier households. This is largely due to the state’s heavy reliance on sales taxes and the lack of an income tax, according to policy experts. A report the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy released in January credited the capital gains tax with helping make the state’s tax system less regressive.”
More – Grace Deng, News from the States
IT’S TIME TO TAX THE BILLIONAIRES
“In the 1960s, the 400 richest Americans paid more than half of their income in taxes. Higher tax rates for the wealthy kept inequality in check and helped fund the creation of social safety nets like Medicare, Medicaid and food stamps. Today, the superrich control a greater share of America’s wealth than during the Gilded Age of Carnegies and Rockefellers.
In 2018, America’s top billionaires paid just 23 percent of their income in taxes. For the first time in the history of the United States, billionaires had a lower effective tax rate than working-class Americans (24%). While most of us live off our salaries, tycoons like Jeff Bezos live off their wealth.Unless Mr. Bezos, Warren Buffett or Elon Musk sell their stock, their taxable income is relatively minuscule. But they can still make eye-popping purchases by borrowing against their assets.
The idea that billionaires should pay a minimum amount of income tax is not a radical idea. What is radical is continuing to allow the wealthiest people in the world to pay a smaller percentage in income tax than nearly everybody else.”
More – Gabriel Zucman, New York Times
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