WSJ: Washington State’s Latest Tax Gambit
WSJ: Washington State’s Latest Tax Gambit
The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board has taken notice of the push to implement a state income tax in Washington. From the editorial:
Shameless describes many corners of the political universe, but special notice this week to Washington state Democrats for pushing an income tax forbidden by their own state constitution. In Olympia, the state Senate voted 27-22 Monday in favor of a 9.9% tax on household income above $1 million a year. Three Democrats crossed the aisle to oppose the measure, joining all 19 Republicans.Income taxes have been banned in Washington state for almost a century. The state constitution says “all taxes shall be uniform upon the same class of property.” The document specifies that “the word ‘property’ as used herein shall mean and include everything, whether tangible or intangible, subject to ownership.”
That isn’t news to the Legislature. The state has put constitutional amendments to allow an income tax on the ballot in 1934, 1936, 1938, 1942, 1970, and 1973, according to the Mountain States Policy Center. All failed.Monday’s vote wouldn’t have cleared the threshold required for a constitutional amendment, but lawmakers plowed ahead because they like their odds with a left-wing state Supreme Court. In 2023 that court ruled a 7% tax on capital gains was an excise tax, not a tax on property barred by the state constitution. If the justices can pretend that capital-gains income isn’t property, Democrats figure maybe they’ll do the same for wage and other income.