4.3.17
Suggested lead:.
The big issue of the day Monday in Olympia was tax reform to fund K-12 schools.
Dan Frizzell has more.
Wrap (:95 total):
LYTTON:
“The key components of the bill are both that it’s a more progressive, more fair
tax system, the other component for me that’s very important is giving relief to
our small businesses.” [:12]
That’s Representative Kristine Lytton, chair of the House
Finance Committee. Her committee
held a public hearing Monday on a group of tax reforms needed to pay for
Supreme-Court-mandated investments in K-12 schools. Citizens testifying at the
Hearing, a hundred strong, were mostly supportive of the plan, and Lytton, a
Democrat from Anacortes, says that didn’t come as a surprise.
No one likes taxes, she said, but the House plan actually cuts taxes for
more than a quarter-million Washington businesses – completely wiping out the
hated B&O for more than seventy percent of the businesses in the state.
LYTTON:
“The key components of the bill are both that it’s a more progressive, more fair
tax system, the other component for me that’s very important is giving relief to
our small businesses.” [:14]
The House plan closes a number of outdated tax breaks that
no longer benefit the state, and collects a modest capital-gains tax that would
affect the top one or two percent of taxpayers.
It’s a sharp contrast to the plan advanced by Senate Republican leaders,
which would raise several billion dollars by increasing property taxes paid by
middle- and working-class taxpayers, mostly in the Puget Sound region.
The Legislature is set to adjourn in just three weeks – not much time to
bridge a gap that large, but Lytton said she remains hopeful Republicans will
finally join her and her Democratic colleagues at the negotiating table soon.
In Olympia, I’m Dan Frizzell.