State Senator Rosa Franklin (Prime Sponsor of 31 Bills this session, Seconday Sponsor on over 120) wrote a piece that appeared in today’s New Tribune, advocating an Income Tax for Washington State (SJR 8209 And SURPRISE SURPRISE, Sen. Kohl-Welles is a co-sponsor!, and SB 5150)

With our tax structure so heavily dependent on the sales tax, we have a double-edged sword. When times are flush, as they are now, we grow a reserve. When times turn lean – and make no mistake, they will someday – we face daunting budget choices.

Of course, what the good Senator seems to miss, is that in lean time, the people face daunting budget choices too.

Look, too, at what this means for families. Remember that the sales tax rate is the same for you and me and for everyone else in Washington, with very slight variations for local jurisdictions. Right now, those who earn less than $20,000 a year pay nearly 16 percent of their income in state and local taxes. On the other hand, those making more than $150,000 pay roughly 4 percent.

And again, the Senator misses the point, that a Sales Tax, as we current enjoy, is a CONSUMPTION TAX.  And with items such as Food not subject to sales tax, it falls predominantly on people with disposable income.  But, as they say, follow the money:  the last line of that statement says it all; citizens making over $150,000 are not paying as much in taxes, as a proportion of their income. 

It’s unfair that those who are least able to afford to pay are paying at a higher rate than those who can. It was unfair 20 years ago, and it will still be unfair 20 years from now. I’m not the first one to point this out, but I’d sure like to be the last. Fairness aside, doesn’t it make logical sense to tax according to income and not consumption?

First, a correction:  everyone pays the same RATE.  Lower income people are paying a higher PROPORTION.

As to logic, where is the logic in punishing achievement and investment?  A consupmtion tax that exempts essentials like food and medicine is the most fair and logical tax possible.  You buy a car, you pay some tax.  You buy a $2M yacht, you pay some tax.  You buy some peanut butter and bread, you pay no tax…

In a nutshell, this year’s measure, Senate Bill 5150, would lower the state sales tax to 3.5 percent. It would eliminate the state’s share of the property tax. And it would impose a graduated income tax on personal income of individuals, estates and trusts.

This is nothing more than an effort to finally move to what is (wrongly, in my estimation), a Progressive tax system.  That is to say, in plain english, The More You Make, The More You Pay.

What never seems to occur to the money grabbers is that if they were really concerened about the people on the bottom of the ladder, they could just exempt them from the sales tax completely.  Adjust the sales tax up about 1/2 a point (or whatever it would be to equalize the revenue) for the rest of us, and everyone wins.

Well, everyone but the bureaucrats and politicians who see a cow in the field, and can’t help themselves from trying to get some more milk out of it.

The Senator then throws in some meat, offering to also lower the state property tax a bit, and assuring us that only a vote of the people could change tax rates (like they can’t get around that).

I’ve been marching along the road to tax reform for a long time. I may not get to my destination this session, either. But if we continue to talk respectfully with clear minds, with taxpayers and with business about what’s fair and predictable and stable, we all can arrive at a better and stronger tax system.

Let’s hope she has to keep marching for a long time…

And just to inject a dose of reality into this (having just worked on my taxes earlier this week), courtesy of the IRS:

…you have the option of claiming either state and local income taxes or state and local sales taxes. (You can’t claim both.)

So, if the good Senator gets her way, theoretically, you could choose between deduction Sales Tax OR State Income Tax from your federal taxes, but not both.  Might as well move to Oregon, where you only get hit from one side…