Initiative 1070

Initiative 1070 would raise a billion in new revenues

An initiative that would raise a billion dollars in new revenue while providing significant tax relief to the state’s home owners and small businesses is being circulated for signatures to secure a place on the November ballot.

The initiative is the work of Seattle’s Economic Opportunity Institute, whose credo is: “Building an economy that works. For everyone.”

Initiative 1070 would levy an excise tax on income in excess of $200,000 for one individual and $400,000 for joint filers. This tax would net $1,687 million in new revenue, offset in part by a one-fifth reduction in the state property tax and an increase in small business credit to $4,800 per year.

Savings from the property tax cut could range from $61 in Skykomish to $178 in Seattle.

The estimated net new annual revenue of $1,069 million would be placed in a trust fund dedicated to improving education and health services.

Seventy percent of the net new revenue would be placed in a Student Achievement Fund, to be distributed to the state’s hard-pressed school districts to be used to improve student achievement through class size reduction, extended learning opportunities and pre-kindergarten, or to fund construction associated with these objectives.

The remaining 30% would be used to strengthen the Basic Health Plan, public health services and long-term care service for seniors and persons with disabilities.

Approval of I-1070 at the polls would mark an historic breakthrough for tax fairness advocates, who have worked in vain for decades to change the highly regressive character of the state’s tax system.

The Executive Board of the Puget Sound Alliance for Retired Americans will have before it at its April 20 meeting a recommendation that I-1070 be formally endorsed and that the membership be urged to engage actively in the campaign to acquire the necessary signatures.