Fix Washington's Broken Tax System to Fix Broken Schools

The WA State Senate released their budget proposal for the next two years this week. The GREAT NEWS is that they proposed NO cuts to the K-12 education budget, invested $32 million in reducing K-3 class sizes, and allocated funds to implement new evaluation systems that focus on student and professional growth. (1) 

However, Sen. Majority Leader Lisa Brown pointed out that "The underlying structural issue is not addressed in this budget." Brown said the state needs to have a larger discussion about tax revenue, noting that revenue as a percentage of personal income in the state has been on a long-term slide. She said that revenue discussion will be critical to ensure the state has quality services such as education and a social safety net. "If we want that kind of state, we are going to have to step up." (2)

For those of you who may be interested in the sources behind the statement that “revenue as a percentage of personal income in the state has been on a long-term slide”, here are some data:

WA's average total tax burden as a percent of personal income was 9.3% in 2009, vs National avg of 9.8%. This ranked WA at 29 nationally (#1 being highest burden). This is down from a high of 9.9% / rank 22 in 1995 (vs National avg of 10.1%), although the decline has not been linear. (3) 

A comprehensive study of total tax burden vs income in the largest city in each state in 2008 (4) showed that for a family living in Seattle, the tax burden as a percent of income (vs the avg of the 50 cities plus Washington D.C.) and rank, at 5 income levels was:

Income     Tax Burden Rank  Tax burden (% income)  Avg tax burden (% income)

$25,000          20                                11.3                            10.9

$50,000          28                                  7.6                             8.2

$75,000          39                                  6.5                             8.0

$100,000        43                                  5.6                             8.2

$150,000        45                                  4.2                             7.8

This really illustrates how regressive taxes are in WA, and how much less in taxes (as a % of income) families making above $50K pay vs families in other states. The more you make, the more you benefit you receive from our tax structure. 

It is time to make our tax system less regressive, more fair, and more stable during economic downturns. 

We voters need to be open to changes when they are proposed, and take the time to understand the long-term consequences of both the changes, and of keeping the status quo. Being resistant to change means more cuts to K-12 and higher education, on top of the $ billions that have already been cut.

(1) You can find more details on the proposed budgets at http://leap.leg.wa.gov/leap/archives/index_budgetsp.asp.

(2) http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/02/28/2412987/senate-democrats-to-unveil-wash.html?storylink=addthis#.T01JK-fqegE.twitter#storylink=cpy

(3)  For Washington's total state/local tax burden vs personal income from 1977 to 2009: http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/sl_burdens_washington-20110223.pdf

(4)  http://www.taxadmin.org/FTA/rate/DC_Tax_Burden_08.pdf