Lack of state income tax gives Seahawks a competitive advantage

Rarely does the world of sports and politics intersect in such a favorable way, but according to sources, free-agent cornerback Cary Williams has agreed to a deal with the Seattle Seahawks. Williams is expected to fly to Seattle today in order to sign a three-year deal worth a total of $18 million.

Williams, recently released by the Philadelphia Eagles, will swap places with cornerback Byron Maxwell, who is expected to sign with the Eagles on a six-year deal worth $63 million that includes $25 million guaranteed.

The political angle comes into the story because the Seahawks faced competition for Williams, as the New York Jets reportedly courted the cornerback. Ultimately, according to the New York Daily News, Washington State’s lack of a state income tax played a role in William’s decision to sign with Seattle.

Washington State’s lack of a state income tax is often credited for granting a competitive advantage for attracting businesses (and, in this case, professional athletes). Last year, Forbes ranked Washington state “the best state in which to make a living” due, in part, to the lack of a state income tax.

Washington Democrats have long pushed for a state income tax. As Shift reported, a state income tax is listed as a “guiding principle” for the Washington State Democrat Party. Democrat lawmakers have proposed two separate state income tax bills during this legislative session.

Showing just how tone deaf the Democrats are on taxation, last week it was revealed that Jay Inslee’s minions at the Department of Commerce had eliminated from its web site a reference to the state’s lack of a capital gains income tax as a competitive business advantage. Evidently, just having Inslee propose such a tax – which he did last December, though his tax plan appears to be going nowhere even in the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives – was enough for his bureaucrats to eliminate featuring it on a site dedicated to attracting jobs to our state.