For kids and fairer tax code vote no on I-2109

By Treasure Mackley / For The Herald

The week my son started kindergarten I got a call that a spot had opened up for him at a local daycare. Unfortuntately, it was four years too late.

Like many parents, we put our name on a dozen or more waitlists as soon as my son was born, hoping for an opening. Thankfully, we found a solution closer to home when I was ready to go back to work, but the lack of quality affordable child care options close to home or work means many families aren’t as lucky.

Our state lawmakers recognized the child care crisis, made a plan to fix it, and found a way to pay for it. They passed a capital gains tax, a modest 7 percent tax on the windfall from stock sales of with more than $250,000 in profit. If you haven’t heard of this tax, it’s likely because you will never pay it.

Last year it applied to less than 1 percent of the wealthiest people in the state. Only 230 people in Snohomish County paid the capital gains tax in 2023.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-for-kids-and-fairer-tax-code-vote-no-on-i-2109/