Building an Economy that Works for Everyone

Funding Public Services through Progressive Tax Reform

Amply-funded public services benefit all Washingtonians. However, our state has an out-of-date tax system that ultimately hurts all of us. Washington’s tax code is rigged to protect the large corporations and the very wealthy. The state’s reliance on regressive sales tax and property tax results in working people subsidizing the rich as well as public funding that continually falls short of what’s necessary.  EOI advocates for closing egregious loopholes that amount to giveaways to big business and billionaires, reforming existing taxes like the real-estate excise tax and estate tax to make them more fair and robust, and passing new progressive policies such as a state wealth tax. We work with community partners to pass progressive revenue policies. A modern, progressive, and ample tax system can fully fund the programs and services that create a Washington where we can all thrive.

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An Inclusive Economy

March 20, 2024

I-2111: The Income Tax Ban Is A Spectacle, but One We Can’t Ignore

A way to waste time, energy, and money, I-2111 is costing more than just taxes

An Inclusive Economy

February 2, 2024

What is REET and Why Do We Need to Reform It?

Washington State lawmakers have the chance to make a progressive tax more progressive and provide a permanent funding source for affordable housing

Progressive Tax Reform

January 23, 2024

Report: Washington no longer has the most regressive tax structure in the nation

This is both cause for celebration and a call to action

FEATURED PROFILE

Tax my income and fix my city. Please.

I’m an engineer at one of our local tech companies, and I’m fortunate enough to qualify for the proposed income tax on Seattle’s affluent. Unlike Steve Ballmer, who made headlines commenting on the proposal, I look forward to paying my fair share to keep Seattle wonderful.

My grandfather first came to Seattle to escape Russian pogroms and build a better life in the New World. Even though my family had little, the opportunity in America allowed my grandfather to send my dad to a good public school, and my dad in turn went on to teach at Harvard Medical School. I’d like to think my grandfather would have the same good fortune if he arrived today.

But the opportunity afforded my grandfather is no longer attainable. We call Seattle a sanctuary city, but the services that we and our immigrants depend on are underfunded and under threat. Our public schools are criminally underfunded. Rent is skyrocketing, pushing middle-class and poor families out of their homes. Tents line our bumper-to-bumper highways.

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