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    Die Gesetzgeber des US-Bundesstaates Washington genehmigen die Millionärssteuer

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    1. sedatedlife on

      Glad it passed in my state but we need to go after them more nationally as well.

    2. B-Z_B-S on

      (From the article): „OLYMPIA, Wash.—Rejecting scores of Republican poison pill amendments, the Washington State House of Representatives on March 11 approved by a 51 to 46 vote a “millionaires tax” of 9.9% on annual income over $1 million. The Senate had approved the measure March 10 by a vote of 27 to 21. It is now on Gov. Bob Ferguson’s desk, and he has promised to sign it into law.

      The governor had expressed unhappiness with the Senate-approved version, arguing that it fails to earmark enough in funding for state programs that serve low-income families, children, and small businesses.

      But April Berg, an African American legislator from Legislative District 44 northeast of Seattle, pushed through a massive re-write of the 107-page bill, including an amendment that 5% of the revenues will be earmarked for the Fair Start for Kids Act. Ferguson hailed the amendment and vowed to sign the bill he called “historic.”

      The wealth tax is a victory for labor and the grassroots movement that has sprung up in the Evergreen State outraged by billionaires like Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Microsoft’s Bill Gates, who reap billions in untaxed profits each year since Washington lacks a graduated state income tax.

      Relying solely on a regressive 8%-plus sales tax and property taxes, Washington State struggles with multi-billion-dollar deficits in covering public services like public education, health care, and transportation.

      The Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, hailed passage of the tax, posting on its Facebook page in banner-sized letters, “Thank You!” An AFL-CIO statement declared, “Special thanks for Speaker Laurie Jinkins for navigating the (Democratic) caucus through the longest floor debate in state history—over 24 hours.”

      In their drive to block the measure in both houses, the Republicans offered more than 60 poison pill amendments scheming to stall passage during this “short session” of the legislature—only 60 days instead of 90. But Speaker Jinkins and the Democratic lawmakers refused to yield, voting down one killer amendment after another for a full 24 hours.

      Jinkins said of the millionaire tax bill: “Our 90-year-old tax code simply cannot meet the needs of our state.” The Washington State tax code, she added, “asks low-income Washingtonians to pay nearly four times more in taxes than the wealthiest among us relative to income. We need to do better.”

      The millionaire tax applies to only about 20,000 or 30,000 wealthy Washingtonians and is expected to generate an estimated $3.5 billion to $4 billion in new revenues annually. It grants the wealthy exemptions for houses, investments, and personal property. It goes into effect Jan. 1, 2028.

      During Senate debate, several Democratic women senators argued that the wealth tax is urgently needed to replace funds for Medicaid and SNAP nutrition benefits stripped from the federal budget by President Trump’s “Big Beautiful” bill, the trillion-dollar cut given to the rich. A Republican senator called these lawmakers on a “point-of-order” to terminate any references to Trump.

      The Republican efforts to block the wealth tax instigated a flood of vicious phone calls and email attacks from MAGA extremists targeting the House Democratic Caucus. The email and phone messages directed at them included hateful language, racial epithets and slurs, threats and intimidation.

      The lawmakers have expressed concerns for the safety of family members, staff, and themselves, with some taking precautions that would normally not be necessary for those simply carrying out the duties of their public office.“

    3. FantasticBicycle37 on

      The funniest part is when they all move to Texas to avoid the new taxes…only to find that Texas has one of the country’s highest wealth taxes (property tax)

    5. SolarTsunami on

      And of course the incredibly rich are crying crocodile tears and threatening to move out as if the vast majority of us wouldn’t jump at the chance to take Seattle back from the tech bros. People who would rather spend millions fighting against paying their fair than help their community are a cancer to society.

    6. Wonderful-Driver4761 on

      Yeah I dunno about this one boss. This also means the state will take 10% of a properties sale if its over 1 million which is every house on the Eastside ontop of a 15% estate tax AND a proprty tax. This is gunna fuck poorer people to who just happen to have a house.

    7. xwing_n_it on

      Get wrecked. The class that makes this much annually have been skating on low federal taxes and no state income tax for decades. With Trump (whom 90% of them probably voted for) wrecking state budgets, let them make up the difference.

    9. Cheating_Data_Monkey on

      I’m on the fence about this legislation.

      Sure, those that make the most SHOULD pay the most for the public good. I’m living on a very comfortable income, and I’ve never voted against any local taxes, ever. If I invest in my community, more people make more money and our entire economy improves. That’s part of how we have so many people making $1M+ in King County. We built the environment where that could happen, and it’s a good thing.

      But like hall people, I’m a bit tribal. WE built that environment. We all sacrificed to pay for that environment through taxes that funded public education, infrastructure, public health and public transit. All things that cultivate and attract business. And with business comes tax receipts.

      We did so well that King County pays more in state taxes than it consumes in states spending, by a lot. $.40 out of every $1 I pay in state taxes leaves my county. Over $4B leaves our county every year to pay for the rest of the state that didn’t invest in themselves.

      Since we’re a balanced budget state, taxes are driven by spending, not the other way around. And where is that spending? All outside of King County.

      So we came up with a new excise tax on those making $1M or more per year, who just happen to live in, you guessed it, King County. So now even more money is leaving my county for largely Republican majority welfare counties.

      In all honesty, we could use that funding right here. We invested in all the systems that made these high income jobs, the rest of the state didn’t. Why in hell should they benefit from that?

    10. FosterFl1910 on

      Exemptions for houses, investments and personal property. So you just have to put yearly income over $1million in stocks/real estate and you’re good?

    11. Late-Dingo-8567 on

      Millionaire tax is such a dumb name… it’s tax on income over a million.  

      Most millionaires have never made a million dollars of income in one year. 

    15. One-Coffee-413 on

      Who will be th3 first one to move? Microsoft, Amazon,Boeing. Starbucks
      Or just whine and try to kill this in future by scaring

    19. TeriyakiHairPiece_ on

      Don’t let the headline fool you, this is an income tax. Washington state constitution outlaws income tax, our politicians have been trying to work around that for years instead of actually changing the constitution. This tax has no way to be repealed by the people and has no language or mechanism to keep it from being lowered below the one million threshold. It will be lowered.

    21. fullload93 on

      Is a millionaire going to actually give a shit about $99,000? That’s not a significant amount in my opinion.

    23. The_Ditch_Wizard on

      Our state government should also extraordinarily render any fleeing billionaires back to WA to have their fair share of the tax summarily collected to make sure nobody gets any funny ideas and tries to follow Mr. Starbucks to Florida. Give the state patrol some old blackhawk helicopters to get the job done if necessary. Pay a 1% bounty from the tax to anyone who gives the state actionable information on a billionaire who may be considering a move to a different state. It’s the only way to keep the rest of the world safe from these monsters.

    25. Thesunnyfox on

      I feel like it’s just a hold out for the states. Be the last one to implement a wealth tax so all the wealthy flood to your state then pass a tax.

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