Balance Our Tax Code supports a broad set of policies that align with our vision of a more just and equitable state tax code, such as:
Tax on Wealth: a 1% on excessive wealth over $250 million to finally make the ultra-rich contribute what they owe in taxes.
HB 1045 – Evergreen Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot Program: to provide regular, unconditional cash payments to participants that supports putting food on the table and paying for families’ everyday needs, we can begin a 2-year pilot Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI) program.
A More Progressive Estate Tax: to make sure wealthy families contribute when passing on fortunes to the next generation, we can eliminate the estate tax for smaller estates and raise the rates for higher valued estates.
SB 5249 – Expansion of the Working Families Tax Credit: to extend life-saving cash payments to more working people, we can expand the age range for recipients of the Working Families Tax Credit to include anyone over 18 years old.
Working Families Tax Credit Technical Fixes: To ensure that families can quickly and easily receive their payments, we can implement technical changes that give people three years to apply, remove delays for ITIN applicants, and ensure all types of filers can get their full credit amount.
SB 5082/HB 1158: Repeal Statewide Advisory Votes: To remove the biased and non-binding advisory votes cluttering our ballots and replace them with information about the Legislature’s budgeting and fiscal decisions in the statewide voter’s pamphlet.
BOTC recognizes that other revenue proposals are being developed for the 2023 legislative session and the above list may change.
Balance Our Tax code broadly stands in support of new, progressive revenue and policy proposals that align with our values and evaluation criteria. We believe that budgets are moral documents and it matters who’s backs those budgets are balanced on. For this reason we support both raising new revenue and directing that revenue to be used to ensure that working families have what they need to thrive from healthcare to housing to food security. We only support tax cuts that are directly targeted to benefit low-income Washingtonians.
Ideas we support include:
Putting cash back in the pockets of those most impacted by Washington’s upside down tax code through guaranteed basic income, a renters credit, and reform of the legal financial obligation system.
Making sure that the wealthiest one percent pay what they truly owe through taxes and disrupt the inequitable concentration of wealth through an inheritance tax and corporate compensation tax.
Developing progressive solutions to equitably fund our communities through access to transportation systems, homes that are affordable for everyone, and relief from the impacts of climate change.