Helen Sommers: An Oral History

The Press
Sommers said, “The constituents don’t want it. I
just don’t know.”
The current state system relies almost entirely on
the retail sales tax, the business-and-occupation tax,
and the state’s share of the property tax. The system
is widely criticized as unduly burdensome on the
poor and on new businesses that are taxed on their
gross proceeds whether they make profits or not.
The state tax structure forces the poor to devote
too much of their budgets to taxes and the wealthy
too little, the committee reported.
In Washington, families in the lowest income
bracket spend nearly 16 percent of their income
on key taxes, while taxpayers at the top pay 4.4
percent, according to the report.
Meanwhile, Washingtonians miss out on the
opportunity to deduct state income taxes from their
federal tax bill – to the tune of more than $1 billion
a year. Washington taxpayers cannot deduct sales
taxes from their federal tax bills.
Most of the committee’s alternatives are variants
on a flat income tax, which would fall more
equitably on people of differing incomes.
Previous studies have drawn similar conclusions.
In more recent decades, those have included,
according to the state Revenue Department:
• In 1966 and 1968 a tax committee appointed
by Gov. Dan Evans, a Republican, recommended
the state impose an income tax. Evans
and legislators sent a proposal to voters on
the 1970 ballot. It was defeated by a margin
of more than 2 to 1.
• In 1973, Evans and lawmakers tried again.
Voters rejected it by nearly 3 to 1.
• In 1982, Gov. John Spellman, a Republican,
appointed a new council. Its recommendations,
in a 1983 package to lawmakers, also
included an income tax proposal. Lawmakers
did not respond.
• In 1988, Democratic Gov. Booth Gardner
appointed another committee, which recommended
an income tax among two tax reform
options. No such bills passed the Legislature
or were referred to voters.
pg. 283
Also, back in his days as a Democratic legislator,
current Gov. Gary Locke co-sponsored three
income tax bills from 1983 to 1991.
This year, the Tax Structure Committee suggested
creating a single income tax rate, while cutting the
sales tax; this, it says, would spread the state tax
burden more evenly.
While the panel declined to rally around a single
detailed proposal, they suggested several options,
including imposing a 3.8 percent state income tax,
lowering the state sales tax to 3.5 percent from 6.5
percent and cutting property taxes by 24 percent.
“We are saying that if the Legislature wants to
overhaul our tax system to make it more fair and less
regressive, then asking voters to create an income
tax is a way to do that,” Gates said in a statement.
The million-dollar question is if. While 43 states
impose some type of income tax, efforts to create
new income taxes have run into steep opposition
around the country in recent years.
For example, an effort to enact a state income
tax in Tennessee sparked a minor riot outside the
state Capitol, according to John Logan, a senior
tax analyst at CCH Inc.
“It’s a tough climate,” Logan says.
The problem is, income tax payments are obvious
on paychecks, while sales taxes are often easy
to ignore, as consumers pay a few cents or even
several dollars in taxes on individual purchases.
The tax panel maintained, however, that the
sales tax system is unfair, forcing poor families to
carry a heavier burden.
Many say the fundamental flaws in Washington’s
tax structure become more pronounced with the
changing economy – and will continue to worsen. The
basis of the current system date back to the 1930s.
For example, the rise of online shopping means
the state is getting a smaller share of what Washingtonians
spend shopping.
For his part, Locke has said – now as governor
– that voters have made it clear they don’t want an
income tax and he will not advocate one again. On
that, nothing changed in the wake of yesterday’s