
By Sakara Remmu, Washington Black Lives Matter Alliance, and Jennifer Tran, Washington State Budget & Policy Center
The Washington State Senate recently took monumental action to support communities by passing a bill that would tax the capital gains profits of the ultra-wealthy. Throughout the state and on social media, there was massive celebration among organizations like ours who fight for economic and racial justice—as well as by all the people who know that it’s time to ensure the people who are overwhelmingly profiting from this pandemic are paying their share in taxes.
Now as we eagerly await a vote in the state House in support of this commonsense policy, we can also be sure that the opposition is going to get even louder. Debate about Washington’s unfair tax code will continue to get obscured by line-item details, policy nuance—or timing.
That’s by design.
It’s obfuscation that allows some lawmakers, editorial boards, and others to ignore the moral questions that underlie any public spending.
Let’s be clear. Efforts to prevent a capital gains tax from passing in Olympia have one single goal: protecting the wealth of white people—wealth built on the backs of Black people, in our state, and the rest of the country.
Each year, people opposing a desperately needed capital gains tax offer slightly different arguments against this commonsense policy. But the subtext is the same: Ultra-rich people (who are primarily white) shouldn’t have to pay their share in state and local taxes.
There is overwhelming evidence that our state and local tax code is inequitable and racist.
Currently, the ultra-wealthy pay a much lower share of taxes based on income than the lowest-income members of our community. Which, thanks to historic and persistent racism in public policies, means BIPOC are more likely to pay higher tax rates. That has to change.
Taxing the profits of high-end stocks and bonds through a capital gains tax would begin to address long-standing economic and racial injustices in our state tax code and economy.
Only 0.2% of Washingtonians would actually pay this small tax on extraordinary profits. Yet the revenue from the tax would direct $500 million in funding into our communities—for critical public programs like schools, parks, and public health.
In Olympia this session, lawmakers have advanced anti-racist bills that would make critical police reforms, undo unjust driver’s license suspension practices, and promote environmental justice.
If they truly care about undoing racial injustice this legislative session, they must also enact a capital gains tax. That’s because righting historical wrongs is, and must be, about the whole of Black Life. Along with police accountability, and voting rights, and healthy families, it must be about economic opportunity for all Washingtonians.
Moreover, a capital gains tax is critical for making sure our communities recover from our current economic crisis.
Although critics and some editorial boards keep pointing to the state’s revenue picture forecast as a valid reason not to move on this much-needed new source of revenue, the picture they see is but a snapshot. A panoramic view of the entire state shows that inequity is decades-deep and stubborn. Revenue forecasts don’t tell the whole picture of how our communities are actually doing and who is being excluded from critical resources.
Our state’s needs have been underfunded since the last recession. As a result, communities of color have continued to face barriers to financial opportunity. And things are only getting worse in the midst of the economic crisis brought about by the pandemic.
Much of the capital gains tax would fund child care and early learning. Many Black, Brown, and Indigenous families are not just struggling but suffering without being able to afford child care during this pandemic. So it seems that the folks coming out against this critical proposal value the wealth of the privileged few more than the well-being of our future generations. We can’t give all kids the opportunity to thrive if there isn’t access to affordable child care for everyone.
It’s time for the folks who are making extraordinary profits to pay their share of taxes.
Can we live up to the state we aspire to be? A state where everyone pays their share and our budget invests in future generations and the health of our communities.
We can. We have the wherewithal. The people have the will. In fact, there is huge public support for the bill in play this session. A recent poll showed almost 60% of respondents support it.
Washington state is ready for this. The state Senate is ready for this. We’re now calling on the state House of Representatives to also listen and act. Pass a capital gains tax now.
Sakara Remmu is former chair of Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County and lead strategist for the Washington Black Lives Matter Alliance. Jennifer Tran is the research and policy director of the Washington State Budget & Policy Center.