In the darkness, some positives in the fight against inequality

Pabio Posted on November 8, 2024

November 8, 2024

If you’ve ever wondered if our country has an inequality problem, this election should provide all the evidence you need. As billionaires used their financial firepower to support their favored candidates, Americans who were left behind took their frustrations to the polls.

How can we approach this next chapter in the fight against extreme inequality? With Senate Republicans still lacking a large, filibuster-proof majority, next year’s debate over the expiration of Trump’s tax cuts could still present an opportunity.

But it’s also likely that any near-term policy progress will have to start at the city and state level and work its way up to the federal level. The three progressive tax victories last night are an encouraging sign.

Washington State’s Initiative 2109 was the most significant tax-related ballot measure of the year. Hedge fund manager Brian Heywood funded the campaign, hoping to repeal the innovative capital gains tax on high earners.

With 62 percent of votes counted, the dismantling proposal was rejected in record time. 63-37 landslide.

“This victory shows that advocacy for creating a more equitable tax code works,” Melinda Young-Flynn, communications director at the Washington State Budget and Policy Center, told Inequality.org.

“Many groups and individuals – including business owners, unions, teachers, racial justice advocates, parents, legislators and many others – have worked together for more than a decade to help the general public of our state to make the connection between common sense and common sense. progressive taxes and the very real needs of our communities.

Introduced in 2022, Washington State revolutionary politics imposes a 7 percent excise tax on capital gains from the sale of stocks, bonds and other assets that exceed $250,000 per year (excluding real estate sales). Who earns so much from their financial investments? Less than 1 percent of the state’s wealthiest residents.

“This victory shows that advocacy for a fairer tax code works. Many business owners, unions, teachers, racial justice advocates, parents, legislators and many others have worked together for more than a decade to help the public connect the dots between common-sense progressive taxes and the very real needs of our communities.

Before the tax was introduced in 2022, Washington’s wealthy prospered under a state constitution that banned the income tax. The capital gains tax circumvents this ban, and the state Supreme Court has ruled it constitutional.

In its first two years, the capital gains levy raised $1.3 billion for investments in child care and early learning, public schools and construction of schools.

“The people of Washington sent a clear message,” Young-Flynn says. “The well-being of children takes precedence over tax breaks for the ultra-rich. All of us who care about economic justice know that it is high time to stop giving a special tax break to the ultra-rich at the expense of everyone else.”

Washington state voters also rebuffed efforts to allow employees to opt out of a new payroll tax on long-term care insurance if they forgo the benefit of the state-run program. State. If this measure had been adopted, it would likely have made the insurance program financially unsustainable. Fortunately, voters rejected the proposal by a majority Margin 55-45.

In Illinois, voters expressed support for an additional 3 percent tax on incomes above $1 million, with the proceeds going toward property tax relief. With 89 percent of votes counted, Illinois voters approved the ballot measure by one vote Margin 89-11. Although the measure is not binding, organizers hope the victory will boost efforts to put on the ballot in 2026 a constitutional amendment authorizing the new tax on the wealthy.

In addition to these fair tax victories, I am encouraged by last night’s passage of pro-worker reforms in several “red” states — in stark contrast to the positions of their Republican representatives in the U.S. Congress. Voters in Nebraska, Missouri and Alaska approved guaranteed paid leave, and Missouri and Alaska also passed state minimum wage increases.

A friend just wrote to me with this message: “A tree outside my window is almost bare. This is perhaps an image of our national life this morning. We have a choice: favor bare branches or appreciate colorful leaves.

These state victories against the scourge of inequality are some of the colorful sheets I appreciate today.

Sarah Anderson directs the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies.