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Statement

Washington State House Passage of ESSB 5096: A Major Step Toward an Economy that Works for All of Us

April 21, 2021
Washington

Lisa Lederer, 202/371-1996

Statement of leaders of MomsRising, the online and on-the-ground organization of more than one million mothers and their families, including more than 40,000 in Washington State, on the State House passing an excise tax on extraordinary profits from capital gains:

“Washington State moms and families commend our state House of Representatives for passing ESSB 5096, which will support an equitable, long-term recovery from the pandemic and help create a stronger, more fair economy in our state. This new excise tax on extraordinary profits from capital gains will provide critical revenue for much-needed investments in child care, early learning, and education. That will help moms, caregivers, and families recover from the pandemic, strengthen our state’s care infrastructure, and combat structural racism and sexism. In passing this bill, the State House joins the State Senate in taking a major step toward an economy that works for all of us.”

-- Statement of Maggie Humphreys, Washington State Senior Campaign Director, MomsRising

“Washington’s regressive, upside-down tax code has been an obstacle to shared progress and prosperity in our state and has created immense hardship for Washington’s low-income working families, who are disproportionately Black, Indigenous, people of color. The new tax on capital gains will help fix this problem by asking the ultra-wealthy to pay their fair share. This progress is in addition to action taken by the legislature earlier this month to create a new tax rebate for low- and moderate-income families through a Working Families Tax Credit. Taken together, these policies begin the much-needed work of turning the upside-down tax code more right-side up. To be clear: this is just the beginning and we must continue the work to build a more equitable and just tax structure for Washington.

“We owe this victory to the coalition of parents, advocates, and legislators who have worked for decades to make our tax code one that lifts the economic wellbeing of all Washington families, not just the rich and powerful. We offer special thanks to Senator Robinson, Representative Frame, Speaker Jinkins, Senator Billig, and our coalition partners at Balance Our Tax Code for their tireless work. We urge the Senate to concur on the bill quickly and send ESSB 5096 to Gov. Inslee for his signature.”

-Statement of MomsRising team members Casey Osborn-Hinman, Mandy Kwan, Hannah Lidman, and Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner

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MomsRising.org is an on-the-ground and online grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to increase family economic security, decrease discrimination against women and moms, and to build a nation where businesses and families can thrive. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families, including criminal justice reform, immigration policy reform, and gun safety. MomsRising is working for paid family and medical leave, affordable, high quality childcare and early learning, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes women — particularly moms and women of color — and so many others. MomsRising advocates for access to healthy food for all kids, health care for all, earned sick days, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. MomsRising maintains a Spanish language website: MamásConPoder.org. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org — and follow us on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook.