STATE GOVERNMENT
Support the state wealth tax on billionaires
Register your support for HB 1406 TODAY before its public hearing
OLYMPIA (Feb. 2, 2021) — The Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO is calling on state lawmakers to invest in Washington by rebalancing our unfair tax code. That way we can invest in the things that make Washington a great place to live: quality schools and colleges, accessible health care, beautiful parks, public transportation, and a strong social safety net that protects the families and communities that continue to suffer the most during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The WSLC is working with Invest in Washington Now, a movement of educators, working families and everyday Washingtonians advocating for progressive revenue solutions, to support HB 1406, sponsored by Rep. Noel Frame (D-Seattle). This legislation would create a wealth tax of 1 percent on financial intangible assets over $1 billion. It would be paid by only a handful of the 7.6 million people living in Washington: the billionaires who currently pay less than their fair share because of our state’s upside-down, regressive tax system.
BACKGROUND — Over the last nine months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the stock market has reached a record high, and the cumulative wealth of the nation’s billionaires has increased by more than $1 trillion. At the same time, small businesses are struggling to keep their doors open and families across this state are struggling to keep a roof over their head and food on the table. This recession is landing hardest in low-income communities – white, Black, Indigenous and people of color – that already pay the highest tax rates in the state. Washington is the worst in the nation when it comes to making the ultra-rich pay their share.
HB 1406 would:
- Add a 1% tax on value of stocks, bonds, and similar assets greater than $1 billion;
- Raise more than $2.5 billion every year for hospitals, struggling families, small businesses, education, and more; and
- Help kickstart our state’s economy to recover from this recession.
HB 1406 would NOT apply to stocks, bonds or other intangible wealth worth less than $1 billion. In fact, as Danny Westneat of The Seattle Times reports:
It’s an annual 1% levy not on income or business revenue, but on what it calls “extraordinary intangible financial assets.” It exempts the first $1 billion of your wealth — meaning that only the state’s true billionaires, those owning stocks and other investments totaling more than $1 billion, would owe any tax at all. This is really a proposed tax on just 10 people. In fact, four of them — Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer and MacKenzie Scott — are so otherworldly superrich that they would effectively owe all of the wealth tax.
The economic effects of COVID-19 are felt by all of us, but especially our frontline workers, communities of color, and families with low-incomes. This HB 1406 wealth tax would be one step closer to balancing our tax code, directing much-needed resources to low- and middle-income communities and small businesses.