Democrats have many proposals to raise or create taxes

Democrats in Washington’s Legislature traditionally haven’t been shy about raising taxes. This legislative session is no different. In fact, there are several Democrat-sponsored proposals that would increase existing taxes or create new ones.

State income tax: The Senate Ways and Means Committee recently passed Senate Bill 5096, a proposal requested by Gov. Jay Inslee creating a state income tax on capital gains.

Voters have rejected a state income tax proposal 10 times over the past 85 years. A recent statewide Elway Poll revealed that only 41 percent of respondents support a tax on capital gains. Contrary to what Democrats claim when they argue for imposing an income tax on capital gains, our state’s long-term revenue outlook is good. Washington doesn’t want or need a state income tax.

Perhaps the most outrageous thing about SB 5096 is that it includes an emergency clause, which means that if it’s signed into law by the governor, then it cannot go before the state’s voters as a referendum. It’s laughable for the supporters to say an emergency clause is even needed when the tax created by this proposal would not be owed until 2023.

If SB 5096 is approved by the Legislature and then signed by the governor, it likely will end up in court before it can take effect. In the past, the high court has rejected similar measures.

Wealth tax: HB 1406 would establish a 1% wealth tax on intangible financial assets of more than $1 billion. Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos should be glad to know this bill may have died in the House Finance Committee.

Making it easier to pass bond measures: Senate Joint Resolution 8204 would amend the Washington Constitution to allow school-district bond measures to pass if they receive at least 55% approval from voters. Currently a 60% “yes” vote is needed for a bond measure to pass. The measure is in Ways and Means. If the Legislature passes it this year, it would go onto the statewide ballot this fall.

Death tax: HB 1465 would make changes to Washington’s estate tax, raising the exclusion amount to $2.5 million but increasing the tax rate on estates between $3 million and $9 million. Additional rate classes would be created for estates of $10 million or more. The bill appears dead (no pun intended) for now in the House Finance Committee.

Pop tax: SB 5371, now in Senate Health and Long Term Care Committee, would create a tax of nearly 2 cents per ounce on sweetened beverages to fund public health and “health equity initiatives.”

Low-carbon fuel standards: For years, Inslee has been pushing for a LCFS, which I call a “gas tax without roads.” At least the gas tax gives drivers something for the money they pay every time they fuel up. If low-carbon fuel standards are required, the extra cost paid by drivers at the pump isn’t guaranteed to improve or maintain our roads and highways.

LCFS is a carbon tax in disguise. In recent years, Washington voters have rejected similar measures that tried to impose a carbon tax. This year’s version of LCFS is House Bill 1091. It would direct the Department of Ecology to adopt rules establishing a Clean Fuels Program to eventually reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in fuel by 20% by 2035. The House Transportation Committee recently passed HB 1091 along party lines.

Gas tax: Last but certainly not least, Democratic transportation leaders have competing transportation-funding plans that include raising the state gas tax. The House Democrats’ plan would jack up the gas tax by a massive 18 cents a gallon over two years, while the Senate plan would hike it by 6 cents per gallon.

There are too many tax proposals to mention, but you get the idea. While some of these tax proposals are “dead,” no tax proposal is really dead in Olympia. This could be a painful session for people’s wallets.

Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, has served the 9th District as a legislator since 1993.