Income tax hearing

“Best of all, it allows us to make the tough decisions we need to make in Olympia right now while allowing voters to decide whether to fundamentally change our tax system,” Sen. Margarita Prentice said, opening up the hearing. She said sometimes a crisis presents an opportunity.

Sen. Cheryl Pflug quoted an editorial by Gov. Chris Gregoire in which she said “now’s not the time” to create an income tax.

Prentice replied, “I think we’re all conscious of the separation of powers … and that she isn’t our boss.”

Here’s how this would all work: The Legislature would vote to immediately implement a three-year sales tax increase of three-tenths of a cent. In the next election, voters would choose whether they wanted to roll back the sales tax to 5.5 percent and implement a 4.5 percent high-earner income tax.

The tax would apply to:

- Single people on every dollar over $200,000

- Heads of household on every dollar over $300,000

- Married, dual earners on every dollar over $400,000

If the voters passed the referendum, the sales tax would drop once the temporary sales tax increase expires.

Tags: income tax