A longtime Republican political operative and advisor to unsuccessful gubernatorial, senatorial, and congressional candidate Dino Rossi appears to be moving forward with an effort to repeal Washington State’s recently-enacted state capital gains tax on the wealthy through a statewide initiative.
J. Vander Stoep, an attorney based in Chehalis who has been active in Republican politics for many years, has filed the initial text of a measure that would completely repeal Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5096, the legislation that created Washington’s new state capital gains tax on the wealthy and dedicated the revenue it generates to childcare, early learning, and K‑12 public schools.
ESSB 5096 is already being challenged in court by a group of plaintiffs represented by former Republican State Attorney General Rob McKenna, but Vander Stoep and other Republican operatives (who simply can’t stand the idea of requiring the wealthy to pay their fair share of dues to our great state) are concerned that lawsuit could end in failure with a decision upholding ESSB 5096 in the Washington State Supreme Court, which will have the final word on the case.
Vander Stoep formed a state-level political committee last December to begin work on a ballot measure with the help of other Republican operatives, including Mark Funk, a veteran of many statewide ballot battles.
The committee has thus far received only $47,200 in contributions from a few very wealthy people (Steve Gordon, Brian Heywood, Howard Behar, John Bloxom). It has spent $39,100.31 and incurred $108,262 in debt, mostly to its consultants (Funk, Peri Hall & Associates) and law firm, Davis Wright Tremaine.
Getting on the ballot will require far more money, but plenty of Republican donors have million and billion dollar fortunes and are eager to keep Washington State a tax haven for the rich. They can easily afford whatever it will end up costing to hire petitioners to collect 425,000 or more signatures to force a public vote on their scheme to roll back the progress that Washington’s elected representatives have made towards balancing our upside down tax code.
Vander Stoep’s initiative is short. Coming in at two pages, it consists of a few editorial comments following by lists of statutes to be removed from the Revised Code of Washington. To put it succinctly, it’s a straight-up repeal attempt. There are no other provisions in Vander Stoep’s measure, in contrast to the various schemes Tim Eyman and Jim Walsh have tried to get funding for.
Invest In Washington Now, which like NPI is a 501(c)(4) committed to securing progressive tax reforms for Washington State, noted in a statement released this morning that polling has repeatedly shown that voters want the super-rich to pay their fair share in dues to our state and country. That includes our own research.
NPI has been asking Washington State voters whether they support levying a capital gains tax on the wealthy for more than half a decade. We have found support every single time that we have asked… and support stays intact even after voters hear the opposition’s most strident arguments.
Last autumn, we tested voter interest in one of Eyman and Walsh’s schemes to get rid of the capital gains tax and also ban income taxes, and found a yawning lack of enthusiasm. Vander Stoep, Funk, and the other operatives working on this campaign may believe that calling the state’s new capital gains tax an income tax will set them up for a successful outcome, but our polling suggests that’s simply not the case. By forcing a public vote on ESSB 5096, they are taking the risk of handing progressives a big victory to sustain progressive tax reform in the court of public opinion. Doesn’t seem like a wise use of funds.
NPI’s Permanent Defense project, which recently celebrated its twenty-year anniversary, will be supporting the coalition working to ensure Washington’s progress towards securing a more equitable tax code is not rolled back.
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