Opponents of repealing capital gains tax highlight its role funding schools and child care

As back-to-school season starts, opponents of a ballot initiative to repeal Washington’s capital gains tax are highlighting how losing the money could undermine school construction and child care programs.

“Our youth are struggling,” said state Rep. Tina Orwall, D-Des Moines, who sponsored one of many proposals to tax wealthy individuals in 2021, the year lawmakers passed the capital gains tax. “We need to use every tool we can to support them.”

Initiative 2109, which will appear on voters’ ballots in November, would repeal the 7% tax on realized capital gains over $262,000 (adjusted for inflation annually, which means the threshold likely increases with each tax year). Those gains usually come from the sale of investments like stocks, bonds or business interests. The tax does not apply to real estate sales.

In 2023, the tax brought in about $786 million. The state collected another $433 million from it as of May of this year. Estimates show eliminating it would drain nearly a billion dollars every fiscal year, although capital gains taxes are a volatile source of revenue, which makes future revenue from the tax difficult to accurately predict.

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/09/03/opponents-of-repealing-capital-gains-tax-highlight-its-role-funding-schools-and-child-care/

But there are billionaires who want to buy a new yacht.