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COMMENTARY April 12, 2004 Free at Last? Almost... (OLYMPIA) – The emancipation proclamation it may not be, but soon Washington taxpayers will be able to sing aloud "free at last, free at last!" In just three more days, most citizens can finally call their wages their own. Ironically, April 15, the same day Washingtonians must account for their tax liabilities to the IRS, is Tax Freedom Day in this state. Calculated by the D.C.-based Tax Foundation, Tax Freedom Day is the last day of the year the average citizen works to pay his or her total tax burden. The average taxpayer in Washington will work 105 days to pay federal, state and local tax obligations. By comparison, the national average this year was 101 days (April 11). Citizens in only six other states have the "privilege" of working longer than Washingtonians to pay their taxes. Washingtonians pay an average of $10,800 per capita (or 28.8 percent of their average income) in taxes.
To pay for just the state share of the tax burden, the average taxpayer in Washington will work 36 days. This is in-line with the national average. Washington ranks 21st highest in the nation for state tax burden, with citizens here paying an average of $3,729 per capita (or 9.9 percent of their average income) each year in state taxes.
It seems the federal tax cuts are working. In 2000, Washington’s Tax Freedom Day fell on May 2. There is still more work to do. "Tax Freedom Day does not take into consideration the cost of regulation. Government is still too large and too expensive," said Bob Williams, president of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation. "While the overall burden has been reduced, debate in Olympia and Washington, D.C. will have a lot to say about whether this trend will continue or rapidly turn back. If the child tax credit, the minimum tax rate, and the marriage penalty relief are made permanent, we could see much brighter days." Contact: Booker Stallworth | Communications Director | 360.956.3482
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1 Part Honesty; 2 Parts Arrogance At a March 23, 2005, House Appropriations hearing on a bill to gut the voter-approved I-601 spending limit, Rep. Jim McIntire (D) asked a supporter of I-601’s two-third supermajority requirement for the legislature to raise taxes the following question: "Can you name a time when we [legislators] have actually not just set it [supermajority requirement] aside by majority vote? I mean, this is in many respects a procedural motion that has no bearing. It’s a statutory constraint that cannot constrain any legislature that chooses as a majority to set it aside . . . have we ever used a supermajority [to raise taxes]?" - Rep. Jim McIntire (D - 46) Despite the arrogance of some state officials, Washington's constitution is clear: "All political power is inherent in the people..." |
