Why you should oppose I-1033
TIM EYMAN, a right-wing populist who continually submits ballot initiatives to cut state spending, has done it again.
He is promoting a "Tax Payer Bill of Rights" (TABOR) for Washington modeled after a similar disastrous measure in Colorado. Initiative 1033 would limit future increases in state spending to a formula based on population growth and inflation. Any extra revenue collected would have to be returned in property tax refunds.
When the similar measure was enacted in Colorado in 1992, horrible things happened to the state:
The proportion of low-income children with no health insurance doubled.
Colorado's per capita funding for education dropped to 49th in the nation. (Before 1992, it placed about in the middle of states in per capita education funding.)
The state couldn't afford to vaccinate children entering school to help protect against diseases like whooping cough.
From 2001 to 2006, employment grew in Colorado by less than half a percent, while employment grew in surrounding states by an average of nine percent.
Things got so bad that voters suspended the law in 2005. In Colorado, TABOR was so disastrous that even Republican legislators called for its repeal.
The timing of this initiative is particularly bad. Last spring, the Washington legislature slashed $4 billion from the state budget due to the economic crisis. Especially hurt were social programs and education. Education alone took a cut of $1.5 billion, and 3,000 education jobs were cut. The cuts also resulted in thousands of layoffs of other state workers.
If 1033 passes, these cuts would be frozen into the state budget. Even after the economy grows again with new revenues coming in, the state would be forbidden from restoring programs cut this year.
EYMAN'S APPEAL to cut taxes strikes a responsive chord even among some poor people in Washington. Why? Washington state has the most regressive tax structure of any state in the U.S.
On average, state taxes take 11 percent of the income of the poorest 20 percent across the U.S. Washington state relies on regressive sales and property taxes, and has no income or wealth tax, so the tax burden on the poorest 20 percent of people is 18 percent. The top tax bracket in the state only pays 3 percent of its income in taxes! The state is in crying need of tax reform.
One proposal would cut the regressive taxes and impose an income tax on those making more than $250,000 a year. This would lower the tax burden on the vast majority, and still raise $2 billion more a year to restore state spending. Another proposal calls for a "millionaires tax" of 10 percent, which would more than cover the current deficit.
Instead of progressive proposals, Eyman always uses the justifiable anger at the current tax structure to argue for cutting the programs most needed by workers and the poor. The current structure attacks workers and the poor by forcing them to pay disproportionately for state government. His proposal attacks workers and the poor through layoffs and program cuts.
Unfortunately, the Democratic-controlled legislature and the Democratic governor played into Eyman's hands. Instead of enacting progressive taxes that would have lifted the burden on the majority, they preserved the regressive tax structure and cut social programs. This has made some people think that the only way to reduce their tax burden is to vote for I-1033.
It is time for unions, and the left in general, to take up the demand for progressive tax reform. Otherwise, the justifiable anger at high taxes on workers can flow into Eyman's right-wing populism.
In this election, the first step is to defeat I-1033!
Steve Leigh, Seattle
