Gov Ferguson weighs in on millionaires' tax

[just-jim]

.
Yes….it is complete BS that Jingles posted.

A year or so ago I took a friends wife over to Omak to get her DL. She had just received her US citizenship a few months earlier. She had a fairly heavy accent, and was clearly not white. The DL folks ran her through the meat grinder about her identity, citizenship, etc….even though she had a whole volume of documents. She got registered to vote- but what a struggle it was for her.

The idea that someone is going to walk into the DL office and just register to vote is utterly laughable!

[mister_coffee]

That is straight up false and has nothing to do with vote-by-mail.

https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/rumor-has-it

Rumor: Automatic voter registration registers everyone to vote, including ineligible voters.

Facts: Washington uses automatic voter registration (AVR) to streamline the voter registration process for eligible voters and maintain an accurate voter roll. For example, when you visit the Department of Licensing (DOL) to apply for, update, or renew your enhanced driver’s license or enhanced ID, the DOL will submit your information to elections officials as long as you meet the requirements for voter eligibility. Certain agencies must participate in AVR when conducting transactions where Washingtonians provide proof of citizenship.

To be eligible to vote in Washington, you must be at least 18 years old, a Washington state resident, a U.S. citizen, and not disqualified from voting due to felony incarceration or a court order. Find more information about voting eligibility on the Voter Eligibility web page. Because an enhanced driver’s license or enhanced ID requires proof of citizenship, a DOL transaction for an enhanced license or enhanced ID includes the necessary information to verify voter eligibility. The AVR process is codified in Washington state law.

When a voter registers through AVR, they will receive a mailed notice of their registration. Although the DOL must “automatically” submit the voter registration information to elections officials at the time of the transaction, this notification provides information about how to opt out of or withdraw the voter registration application. Using AVR helps reduce barriers to registration for eligible voters, as well as ensure voter rolls remain up to date by utilizing qualifying transactions with state agencies to update voter information. More information about AVR is available on the Automatic Voter Registration web page.

[Jingles]

Please provide examples proving that the rate of voter fraud is higher in states that have vote-by-mail. All of the research I have seen either shows zero difference or a very slight indication that vote-by-mail states have lower fraud rates.

One example would be the voter registration when getting a drivers license. Matters not if a citizen or not get a license in WA and get registered to vote. In person photo I'd required to vote could eliminate over 100k illegals ( according to Sec of state estimates) from voting

[mister_coffee]

I find it humorous because I think the breakout political opportunity in the next several years will be going after the very wealthy.

We are left with compelling evidence that the extremely wealthy are corrupt, unaccountable, and often evil. And their continued existence is arguably a threat to any kind of free society that we'd want to live in. Arguably they are a threat to our national security as well.

Someone who can articulate and sell that story will get a lot of sympathetic ears from both libs and cons. And possibly their votes.

If I were an extremely wealthy person I'd be looking for some kind of compromise that would satisfy the demands for accountability and would prevent myself from becoming the likely victim of mob violence. We are on track for some kind of French-Revolution style La Terreur.

[Rideback]

Jingles, what you're referring to is a new Bill that would allow striking union workers to collect unemployment in '27. Since that is a new thing it hasn't had any impact to date on balancing the budget to date. https://www.cascadepbs.org/politics/202 ... rs-strike/

But again, until those with incomes of over $1M start paying their fair share the burden will continue to fall on your shoulders and mine.

[mister_coffee]

Please provide examples proving that the rate of voter fraud is higher in states that have vote-by-mail. All of the research I have seen either shows zero difference or a very slight indication that vote-by-mail states have lower fraud rates.

[Jingles]

As the Federal Government collapses into a hot mess of dysfunction states will be forced to raise taxes and impose new ones to keep critical functions running.

Maybe states like WA instead of continuing to raise taxes to support their wasteful spending the should look more to reducing the spending.
One example that readily pops to mind is paying unemployment benefits to striking workers. These buttholes voted to go on strike and if they didn't have their financial resources in order tough schit do without

[Jingles]

A close read of the press release above should alleviate Jingles' concern. I like that it would be codified by an amendment, which would have to pass by a voters' approval statewide, that it would be inflation tagged to rise every year, that the $ would be plowed back into the necessities of working families. Until the state can pick up the slack to help working families and retirees needs we'll continue to see too many facing hardship. It's time for the richest among us to pay their fair share and the fear that this opens the door to income tax for everyone just doesn't unpack. It's that fear that has allowed the richest to become their own version of welfare queens.

Yes it would take a vote of the people to approve a State Constitutional Amendment but looking at the voting history of this state where the 5 counties along the I-5 corridor control the other 34 counties, I can not imagine the idiots in the 5 counties would develop any brain cells and not vote for it.
About only chance of it being voted down would be by cleaning up the voter rolls and requiring photo ID and in person voting. Neither of which would cause any hardship on any particular group except those that are not entitles to vote anyhow

[mister_coffee]

Given how some individuals in this country are wealthy enough to fund private armies for themselves I think it is way past time we have a ninety-plus percent tax bracket and a tax on wealth as well.

Ian Fleming's 1954 novel Moonraker was about a billionaire industrialist who had a private space program and was secretly a Nazi. Truth is often stranger than fiction, isn't it?

[PAL]

Well stated Rideback!

[Rideback]

A close read of the press release above should alleviate Jingles' concern. I like that it would be codified by an amendment, which would have to pass by a voters' approval statewide, that it would be inflation tagged to rise every year, that the $ would be plowed back into the necessities of working families. Until the state can pick up the slack to help working families and retirees needs we'll continue to see too many facing hardship. It's time for the richest among us to pay their fair share and the fear that this opens the door to income tax for everyone just doesn't unpack. It's that fear that has allowed the richest to become their own version of welfare queens.

[PAL]

Yeah, so let's just let the millionaires just keep skating. They can afford the lawyers that find the loopholes and they can evade taxes.
On the backs of the workers....

[mister_coffee]

As the Federal Government collapses into a hot mess of dysfunction states will be forced to raise taxes and impose new ones to keep critical functions running.

[Jingles]

Opening the door for an income tax on everyone, starts with the supposed millionaires then those over 500K then 250 K then 100K then everyone.
Washington legislators definitely do not know how to cut out spending to stay within their income, basic checkbook balancing

[Rideback]

Governor Ferguson announces support for millionaires’ tax
Millionaires’ tax is not included in the Governor’s supplemental budget, as revenue would not be realized for several years
Watch the full press conference here. Photos available here.

OLYMPIA – Today, Governor Bob Ferguson announced his support for a millionaires’ tax.

While announcing his support, he made it clear that the millionaires’ tax, which he hopes will be adopted this session, will not and cannot solve our short-term budget challenges. The revenue from such a millionaires’ tax will not be realized for several years, and, in his view, must be used to return money to working families and small business owners most impacted by our unequal tax system in Washington state. These impacts have been exacerbated by the Trump Administration’s harmful economic policies.

“The inequities of our state’s tax structure have been exacerbated by President Trump’s massive tax cuts for the wealthy — an unprecedented upward transfer of wealth that makes the rich even wealthier while hardworking people are overburdened,” Governor Ferguson said. “We must rebalance this unfair system and return money and cut taxes for working families and small business owners who have been hit hard by the affordability crisis.”

Washington ranks next to last for fairness and equality in our tax system — meaning those who make the least pay much larger shares of their income than those with the most resources. Washington families whose income is in the bottom 20% pay 13.8% of their total income in taxes, while those whose income is in the top 1% pay only 4.1% of their income.

Ferguson endorsed a millionaires’ tax on those who make more than $1 million in income in a single year — not people whose net worth reaches that amount based on, for instance, the value of their home.

The specifics will vary depending on the details of the proposal that goes forward, but less than one half of one percent of Washingtonians will pay the millionaires’ tax, and it will raise at least $3 billion every year.

Ferguson also supports codifying the $1 million threshold, with appropriate adjustment for inflation, into state law. In other words, the millionaires’ tax would be paid on income over $1 million in its first year; and while the amount of annual income that triggers the millionaires’ tax will rise due to inflation, that amount will never impact more than 99 percent of Washingtonians.

A constitutional amendment is one way to provide this assurance, Ferguson said.

As for the revenue, Governor Ferguson talked about specific ways the revenue from a millionaire’s tax can be used. Ferguson said the state must use the gains from the millionaires’ tax to return money to working families and small business, specifically by:

Expanding eligibility for, and increasing the amount of, Washington’s Working Families Tax Credit. The Working Families Tax Credit currently provides a maximum tax credit of up to $1,290 per qualifying household, depending on their income and number of qualifying children, if any. The Working Families Tax Credit is a proven success in providing meaningful tax relief to Washington families.
Reducing taxes on small businesses. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and our communities, driving economic growth and creating jobs. And amid the affordability crisis, many of them are struggling. In Ferguson’s view, the state should not require small businesses to pay B&O taxes until they make $1 million in revenue. The state can achieve this tax reduction for small businesses using approximately $1 billion gained from the millionaires’ tax.
Ferguson said that revenue from the millionaires’ tax should also be used to, for example:

Provide more K-12 funding to bolster Washington students’ access to a world-class education.
Eliminate sales taxes on essential personal hygiene products, such as shampoo, deodorant and toothpaste; essential baby products, such as diapers, wipes and infant formula; or essential and affordable clothing items. Those with fewer resources have to spend a larger share of their income on these essentials, meaning that more of their resources are taxed.
Ferguson acknowledged that legislators will have their own ideas for how a millionaires’ tax could serve our state. Ferguson looks forward to having productive conversations, while remaining committed to sending a significant portion of what is gained from a millionaires’ tax back into the pockets of hardworking Washingtonians, to help make life more affordable for them.