All In For Washington is a statewide, people of color-led effort to clean up our upside-down tax code and fight for economic justice. We’re flipping the script on tax and revenue reform by centering and advocating for a future in which Black, Indigenous, and other people of color can thrive, not just get by. The activists, workers, communicators, and policy experts in our coalition are dedicated to making our home a more economically just, happy, and healthy place to live for all.
Washington is a great place to live, work, and raise a family. For most of us, there’s nowhere we’d rather live. We can lead the nation in education, healthcare, prosperity, and overall quality of life. But we can’t achieve this vision without adequately investing in these foundations. You can’t get something for nothing. When we all invest together in the foundations that benefit all of us, our communities thrive.
But our tax code and economic system are rooted in institutional racism; while the effects of our upside-down tax code are felt throughout the state, they disproportionately impact communities of color. When budgets are cut due to insubstantial revenue, our funding is first in line. When there are few, underfunded options to choose between, we can’t buy our way out — unlike wealthier, typically white Washingtonians. A history of implicitly racist policymaking paired with little representation in and access to government means our voices are rarely heard, let alone centered. Policies that start and end by collecting revenue without investing it back into communities that have been paying the most and receiving the least will not solve this problem. It doesn’t have to be this way.
Let’s think beyond a balanced tax code to a Washington in which we’ve achieved economic justice; where we’ve worked together to restore as much dignity, self-determination, and power to workers and communities of color as possible through tax and revenue reform; and where our highest goal is not equality, but liberation from the bonds that hold all of us back. We will work toward this vision by advancing equitable, accountable policy solutions, lifting the voices of Black and brown people fighting for economic justice throughout Washington, and building long-term power in communities of color through on-the-ground presence and committed relationships.
We need real solutions that are sustainable, equitable, and adequate. Our tax code should reflect our values, not the desires of powerful special interests. Join us and let’s work together to create a comprehensive solution that fixes our upside-down tax code.
More than 600 tax breaks and special deals are buried in our tax code. Many of them don’t have restrictions or expiration dates, leaving us with less to invest in our communities. We’re leaving money on the table that we could use to build affordable housing, excellent schools, and infrastructure.
Powerful special interests and the wealthiest 1% have reduced their own tax bills at the expense of the rest of us by managing to avoid paying taxes on money they make through capital gains profits -- we’re one of only 9 states without a capital gains tax. Correcting this would begin to fix our upside-down tax system, and raise revenue to invest in our quality of life.
Thousands of working families in our state, including many families of color, have insufficient incomes to cover the costs of basic needs. It’s time to fund the Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC), Washington’s version of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), one of the most effective programs to lift low-wage workers with children out of poverty. The WFTC would provide qualifying households with an annual boost to their income in the form of a tax credit. Despite the law being added to the books in 2008, funding hasn’t yet been allocated to get the program up and running.
