At the Budget & Policy Center, our 2017-19 legislative agenda aims to meet that goal. We know that in order to build prosperity and to advance equity in our state and our economy, policymakers must keep the well-being and economic security of all Washingtonians top of mind.
We are pleased that a number of our policy priorities advanced during the 2017 legislative session. In particular, elected leaders rightly strengthened supports for families to meet basic needs, closed outdated tax breaks like the sales tax exemption for bottled water and a tax break that largely benefited oil refineries, and approved paid family and medical leave. This progress is thanks in no small part to the work of community organizations, advocacy groups and everyday Washingtonians from across the state. [See the links at the end of this post for more details about our policy priorities that advanced in the 2017 session.]
Now, in 2018, elected leaders must take additional steps to ensure our state budget delivers on the values of our great state. They can no longer leave undone the important task of cleaning up our upside-down tax code – in which the wealthiest people pay the least state and local taxes as a share of their incomes. Cleaning up the tax code will help ensure our state has the revenue to pay for investments in great schools and strong communities. The stakes are higher than ever given that the U.S. Congress has passed new tax breaks benefiting the wealthy and profitable corporations and hasn’t acted to reauthorize funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
When legislators convene in January, they should:
- Ensure there is ample and equitable funding to raise the salaries of public K-12 teachers, as required by the state Supreme Court, in time for the 2018-19 school year.
- Support strong investments in our communities and the well-being of Washingtonians into the future by: helping more kids get access to our successful state preschool program, the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program, by expanding eligibility; passing “breakfast after the bell” legislation that supports student health and readiness through nutrition; increasing supports for people experiencing economic insecurity, homelessness, and behavioral health challenges; protecting health care funding provided by programs like the Affordable Care Act and Apple Health for Kids; and taking steps to correct the short-sighted fixes and accounting gimmicks from the 2017-19 biennial budget.
- Enact long-term solutions to fix our upside-down tax code by: closing the tax break on capital gains; making the tax on sales of real estate more equitable by reducing the tax rates on the sale of lower-valued properties and increasing the rates applied to properties that sell for more than $1 million; and boosting the incomes of hardworking families through the Working Families Tax Rebate.
As a result of the special election in November, the makeup of the legislature, the leadership in the Senate, and the people on the budget-writing committees are different than at the close of the last legislative session. This legislature has a fresh opportunity to set our state on a path toward prosperity and an inclusive economy through our state budget.
See our Progress in Washington 2018 report, “Building an Inclusive Economy,” for more details on how our state is faring when it comes to building an inclusive economy. And read more about our policy priorities that advanced in the 2017 legislative session in the following schmudget blog posts:
