Capital gains: Upside-down tax code needs repair

Investors have enjoyed an unprecedented recent history of growth in equity markets. They have made a lot of money on the infrastructure and people of our state. It’s time we make sure everyone is investing back into our communities.

We need to balance the methods of taxing Washingtonians, specifically by closing the tax break on capital gains for individuals making six figures and couples making $200,000 or more.

The capital gains tax in the House draft budget would impact 0.4 percent of the wealthiest Washingtonians and would exempt homes and retirement accounts.

It would help balance our upside-down tax code, which is full of loopholes and has the lowest-income families paying six times more of their income than the wealthiest.

This isn’t about increasing taxes; it’s about ensuring we have the resources to invest in our shared priorities without doubling down on a broken system.

It is simply taxing significant profits from stocks and bonds, like almost every other state does, and fulfilling obligations to invest in our next generation.