B & O, var & const
Another little variables & constants item.

Tinkerbell McKenna and Jay Inslee, the "two" "party" candidates for Wash governor, got into a fierce non-debate about their hate of a state income tax. One hated it, the other hated it more, the first doubled down on hating it, the other saw his hate and raised it, the first accused the other of obscenely insufficient hate, etc, etc, etc.

We must preserve our competitive advantage, must keep the job-creators here, etc, etc, etc.

Okay, Tink and Jay. Let's look at this.

Wash doesn't have a tax with the explicit TITLE of "Income Tax", but it does have the Business and Occupations tax. This is an income tax on businesses and corporations, which also applies to independent contractors. Thus it catches a good part of the population directly or indirectly.

I've been working in 'contractor' style and filing B&O tax returns for many years. So far I haven't had to pay anything, but the threshold is just above my typical yearly income, so I'll undoubtedly pay sooner or later. Either my income will rise above the limit, or the limit will slide down. Okay with me. This state provides pretty good service in general, and I don't mind paying for good service.

Now back to you boys. You say you don't want an "Income Tax" because it would keep businesses from coming to the state. Hmm. We ALREADY have an income tax SPECIFICALLY ON BUSINESS. If tax is the problem, this would already be the problem.

Therefore, our problem** is not income tax. It's other taxes and rules, especially environmental crap.

= = = = =

** Actually, I'm not convinced Wash has an employment problem. It could be that our taxes and laws are giving us the type of business we want, while Idaho's taxes and laws are giving Idaho the type of business they want. That's how federalism is supposed to work.
  ¶ 5:40 PM