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STATES CAN STILL TAX THE RICH  
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Eli Taylor Goss and Treasure Mackley
January 22, 2025
Otherwords
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_ We won progressive taxes in our state by showing people just how
unjust our tax code was. Other states can follow. _

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As President Trump takes office, one of his first agenda items is to
slash taxes on corporations and the rich. The results will be more
inequality and less revenue for the programs Americans rely on.

The good news? States can make their own tax codes more equitable. And
everyday people can help.

In our state, Washington, people voted overwhelmingly this past
November to protect our state capital gains tax on the ultra-wealthy.
This was a hard-fought victory by a movement of people who believe we
need a better tax code.

Let’s back up.

Despite our “blue state” status, Washington’s tax code has long
been one of the most inequitable in the country
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over-relies on regressive measures like sales taxes and property
taxes. That forces low- and middle-income earners to pay the biggest
portion of their income in taxes to fund the programs and services we
all rely on.

In 2010, an initiative to enact a tax on high earners in our state
failed miserably. Although many people — including lawmakers —
proclaimed the death of progressive taxes in Washington, advocates
came together with a long-term goal of building public support for
progressive revenue.

Our organizations were two of many that did this work. From interfaith
organizations to affordable housing advocates to union leaders, we
created coalitions to hold lawmakers accountable to build an equitable
tax system.

In addition to organizing and legislative strategies, our coalitions
prioritized shifting the public narrative.

With the help of public opinion, strategic communications, and
messaging research firms, we spent over a decade talking to people in
Washington to better understand their deeply held beliefs about taxes.

We learned that most Washingtonians felt the impacts of our
upside-down tax code but didn’t realize just _how much_ it favored
the rich. And in focus groups and community meetings, we heard people
vocally support taxes when they understood the services they provide.

In media interviews, legislative testimonies, community events, and
town halls, we showed how creating a budget that funds our communities
requires the wealthy to pay what they owe. We tied taxes to critical
programs and services like child care, education, parks, and safety
net programs.

We also highlighted how our tax code — which was designed to favor
white, land-owning men over everyone else — is harmful to
communities of color and low-income people.

Buoyed by grassroots organizing and legislative efforts, national
momentum for taxing the rich, and some wealthy spokespeople who said
“we want to pay this,” our coalitions helped our legislature pass
a capital gains tax in 2021. We also helped pass a Working Families
Tax Credit that year, a cash boost for people with low incomes.
Together, these policies started to holistically fix our tax code
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Our state capital gains tax is an excise tax on the sale of  high-end
stocks and bonds. Many extremely wealthy people are able to hoard
wealth from selling these stocks.

In its first two years, our modest capital gains tax on the richest
0.2 percent of Washingtonians brought in $1.3 billion to increase
access to affordable child care and support school construction
projects
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But as soon as it passed, a handful of uber-wealthy individuals filed
a lawsuit to repeal the tax.

Ultimately, the state Supreme Court upheld it. The last test was on
the ballot in November. We soundly defeated Initiative 2109, a
last-ditch effort to repeal the tax. Over 64 percent of voters —
including majorities in right-leaning counties — supported keeping
the capital gains tax in place to fund schools and child care.

Our win — which many thought impossible a decade ago — was a
bright spot nationally this fall. We still have a long way to go
towards a just tax code, but it’s possible to flip the script and
build public support for progressive revenue. Wherever you live, we
hope your community is the next to make that happen.

_Eli Taylor Goss
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executive director of the Washington State Budget and Policy Center, a
research and policy organization that works to advance economic
justice. Treasure Mackley
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director of Invest in Washington Now, an organization working to
remake our tax code so it works for everyone. This op-ed was
distributed by OtherWords.org._

_OtherWords is a free editorial service published by the Institute for
Policy Studies. Each week, we publish a package of op-eds and
columns, plus an original cartoon, and distribute them to readers,
editors, and publishers through our website and newsletter. Each year,
hundreds of newspapers and websites reaching millions of readers use
this work._

* tax reform
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* economic inequality
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* state taxes
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