The Longview Daily News was the latest newspaper to come out opposed to I-1098. In its Sunday's editorial, the lower Columbia River daily called it the wrong answer for Washington.
Using information gathered by our polling of AWB's small business members, The Daily News editorialized:
Initiative 1098 may appeal to some voters for the very reason that it targets earnings typical of business owners. The tax would apply to individuals making at least $200,000 annually and couples making $400,000 per year.
Finally, advocates of the income tax assert that it would make Washington's tax code less regressive. This is only marginally true. The measure in no way reduces the state's most regressive tax, the sales tax. That flat tax would continue to be paid by rich and poor alike.
The editorial concludes:
In any event, I-1098 is the wrong fix for Washington's tax code at the wrong time. As AWB President Don Brunell says, "Washington state should be doing everything in its power right now to attract and create new private sector jobs. An enormous deterrent to growth like a new state income tax would have the effect of telling companies to go elsewhere."
Brunell's right. Washington is one of just seven states nationwide without a state income tax. That's a large part of the reason the Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation ranks this state ninth in its 2010 State Business Tax Climate Index. Certainly, this is no time to give up that advantage.
Considering the Longview metropolitan area had the highest unemployment rate in June for the state of Washington at 11.5 percent and the neighboring Portland-Vancouver area checked in at 10.2 percent, the issue is JOBS! The Longview Daily news realizes that it takes a healthy and vibrant private sector to put people back to work and restore economic vitality. That happens when the private sector has money to invest and generate tax growth through renewed prosperity.
Don C. Brunell, President (DonB@awb.org).
