OLYMPIA, Wash.—Early February was a perfect time to join thousands of voters here celebrating the Chimacum Cowboys marching band on their way to the 250th birthday of the United States in Washington D.C. July 4, to cheer the Superbowl victory of the Seattle Seahawks, and to demand enactment by the state legislature of the “Millionaire Tax” to make rich tax-evaders pay their share.
April Sims, President of the Washington State Labor Council, led a crowd of over 500 union members in a chant on the State Capitol steps: “Taxes fair, make the wealthy pay their share.” They also chanted, “Millionaires pay your due! Kids’ future depends on you!”
Sims denounced Washington State’s regressive tax law. Poor and low-income taxpayers bear the heaviest burden in paying for education, health care, environmental protection, and all the other services provided by the state.
Jane Hopkins, the State President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), said, “Are we gonna protect wealth? Or are we gonna protect lives? Washington should stand for care, dignity, the community, and not be worried about millionaires’ feelings.”
Rep. Natasha Hill (D-Spokane) said she was elected on a promise to “fix our tax code.” She added, “We’ve got to make sure that Washingtonians across the state all can share in the wealth that is being generated.”
Washington State is famous—or notorious—for individuals and companies worth billions, such as Jeff Bezos, owner of Amazon; Bill Gates, owner of Microsoft; Starbucks; and Boeing, all of which have reportedly never paid a dime in Federal taxes. These individuals and corporations rake in many billions of dollars in profits each year. Meanwhile, the State of Washington—without a state income tax—continually struggles with huge deficits and imposes cutbacks and mass layoffs of school teachers and health care workers to balance the budget.
As the crowd chanted, a panel truck was driving on the streets around the Capitol with giant posters on its side, “PASS THE MILLIONAIRES TAX! FUND EDUCATION & HEALTHCARE!”
Republican lawmakers scrambled to block the Millionaire Tax Bill (SB-6346) that would impose a 9.9% tax on any taxpayer with wealth above one-million dollars annually. The Senate Ways and Means Committee approved SB-6346 and sent it to the Senate Rules Committee. Yet this 50th Legislative Session is only 60 days long, and many measures may die because of the early adjournment. One Republican lawmaker claimed that the measure is “demonizing folks who have been successful” and falsely claimed the wealth tax will apply to all taxpayers.
On another life and death issue, the senators shouted down a series of Republican amendments to weaken or nullify a measure aimed at providing abortion pills to women seeking to terminate pregnancies. Republicans in the nation’s capital terminated Federal funding for the abortion pill. The Washington Legislature is thus taking steps to provide these pills at the state level, supplied from the State’s largest pharmacy, the Department of Corrections. Republican Sen. Leonard Christian claimed that if approved, “this bill will open up the state as the free supplier of abortion pills to the entire country. Vote NO!”
But Sen. Noel Frame, a Democrat from Ballard and Magnolia Heights, told of her personal ordeal. She said she discovered that she was pregnant in 2023 and was warned that the pregnancy would not “come to term.” She was advised to terminate the pregnancy.
“To my great surprise, despite being a sitting State Senator with health insurance and all the resources in the world, I could not access mifepristone…I was asking for basic services,” Frame explained. She decided to take misoprostol alone. The result was a partial miscarriage requiring invasive surgery to avoid infection. “This legislation is about women’s health,” she told her colleagues. “It’s about the ability of women to control their own bodies.”
Frame’s speech was so moving that her colleagues, many women Senators but also a few men, crowded around her desk and embraced her in a show of solidarity and love. The Senators voted 32 yes, and 17 no to approve the bill.
Sen. T’wina Noble (D-Tacoma), Senate Majority Whip, spoke out sharply against attempts to spy on youth by expanding AI (artificial intelligence) cameras in the public schools. She urged passage of SB-5956 to curb this AI “student discipline and surveillance in public schools.” The measure was approved 35 yes to 11 no.
Chimacum’s “Cowboys Marching Band” entertained Capitol visitors by playing favorite marching songs in the Capitol Rotunda. The band members gathered in the Senate Visitors’ Gallery as Sen. Mike Chapman (D-LD 24) hailed them for “making history” in being chosen to march this July 4 in the 250th birthday celebration of the founding of the United States on July 4, 1776.
The Senators approved unanimously a resolution hailing the Seattle Seahawks for their Feb. 8 victory in the LX Super Bowl. Lt. Gov. Denny Heck, who chairs all State Senate sessions, handed the microphone to sportscaster and former Seahawks wide receiver Steve Raible. Raible then mimicked his live reporting of the high point of the Seahawks victory over the New England Patriots: He shouted into the microphone: “Uchenna Nwosu picks off that pass, he turns upfield…he runs…at the 15, 10, now the five. He is in! Touchdown Seahawks!” The Senators and everyone in the visitor galleries stood and cheered.
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