Left argues for state income tax… again

In 2010, Washingtonians said a very loud “NO” to a state income tax, with a resounding 64 percent of the vote against an initiative pushed by Governor Chris Gregoire and the rest of the Democrat Party . But, that hasn’t stopped Democrats and liberal progressive groups from pushing the issue again this legislative—the Washington State Democrats are even so tone deaf that they included a state income tax in their party platform.

As usual, Democrats are demanding this year that taxpayers give the government more money, to grow even larger. And, claiming our state budget system to be broken, many loud voices on the left have—once again—taken up the banner of a state income tax as the fix. Just today, Senate Democrats demonstrated their complete disconnect from reality by again introducing a bill to implement a state income tax bill.

John Burbank, the executive director of the Economic Opportunity Institute in Seattle, recently called for a state income tax using the Washington State Labor Council’s sound box (The Stand) as a platform. Burbank begins his argument by calling for the Legislature “to confront a fundamental reality of current state financing.” Of course, Burbank’s version of “fundamental reality” is that Washington State doesn’t “have the money to pay for high quality education and good and appropriate public goods and services.”

Recently, Sen. Andy Hill challenged Jay Inslee’s similar sky-is-falling rhetoric on the state budget. Hill pointed out that, contrary to Democrats’ message, our state does not face a “brutal deficit.” The notion that Washington State is facing a massive budget deficit is a myth propagated by Democrats who would like to see new, historic taxes implemented. Rather, Hill called for taxes as a last resort.

Burbank, among other liberal progressives, doesn’t see it that way. Burbank argues for a state income tax on the highest earners—essentially the same proposal 64% of Washingtonians already rejected. Burbank reaches out to his fellow progressives with the plaintive cry,“What would happen if our state levied an income tax of 4 percent on these households?”

Taking Burbank’s request at face value, a state income tax on high earners would bring about proverbial rainbows and puppies for all. Of course, that’s not reality. The reality is that revenue brought in by the state income tax in question will not be used for all the things that progressives claim it will – Democrats will not use the money for community college tuition, they will not reduce tuition at public universities, they will not fund better foster care, they will not fund home health care and they will not fund early childhood education. The track record of Democrats over the past thirty years is all the evidence needed.

For the past thirty years Democrats have controlled the state budget and, in every budget for the last thirty years, they proved their priorities. Democrats’ priorities do not include funding education (early childhood or otherwise)—if that were the case, the McCleary decision would not exist. Their priorities do not include making college tuition more affordable—if that were the case, tuition in Washington State would not have sky-rocketed to the second highest in the nation due to Democrats treating institutions of higher learning as go-to cash cows.

Evidence of truth exists in actions, not words. Democrats in Washington State have a long track record of making promises, then doing the opposite. Former Gov. Gregoire campaigned in opposition to a state income tax, and then she turned around and championed a state income tax initiative . Jay Inslee campaigned on a no-new-taxes promise, and then he turned around and proposed historic new taxes, including an income tax on capital gains.

How long before a state income tax on high earners becomes a state income tax on the middle class? How long before it impacts all of Washington’s working families? Judging from Democrat’s track record—and not their rhetoric—if they ever get their way, not for long.