Thank you to Councilmember Lisa Herbold for sponsoring this event. The program will include a presentation about the proposed measure, and speakers from organizations that have endorsed this campaign.
Afterwards we will be delivering a coalition letter to Mayor Murray.
If you can’t make it to City Hall, PLEASE CALL your district councilmember and the two city-wide councilmembers that same day. (Soon we will have a form set up on TRU’s website where you can sign up to make calls, so that we can send you talking points and phone numbers in advance.)
The Transit Riders Union is helping to build a coalition of community, labor, environmental, and social justice organizations to pass a 2.5% tax on the unearned income (capital gains, interest, dividends) of wealthy Seattle households that make over a quarter million dollars per year. We expect this to raise around $100 million dollars per year in the City of Seattle.
Once passed we expect this measure to be legally challenged, probably by the Freedom Foundation, and to end up at the Washington State Supreme Court, giving that court the opportunity to reverse two archaic 1930s decisions that disallowed a progressive income tax in Washington State. It is expected that today’s progressive court will rule in our favor, thus opening the way for other municipalities to pass similar measures and for a statewide effort. Let’s make history!
You can read more and sign up to volunteer here: https://transitriders.org/take-action/current-campaign/