Thanks for taking action to show how many WA workers support the billionaire wealth tax (HB 1406). SIGN-UP before 1:30pm Tuesday to give live testimony.

The House Finance Committee is hearing a bill to tax WA billionaires on Tuesday afternoon at 1:30pm. Will you help us “pack the room” and give live testimony in support of the bill? 

If you’re signed-up to testify live, here are a few things to know: 

  • The committee hearing will be held over Zoom, so you’ll need to have the Zoom application downloaded on your computer or mobile device. 

  • You’ll be put in line with all the other people who’ve signed up to weigh in on the bill. Once you’ve signed up, legislative staff will send you instructions to join the meeting, and during the hearing a legislative staffer will let you know when it’s your turn to speak. 

  • You’ll want to begin your testimony by introducing yourself and saying some version of “I’m here to testify in support of HB 1406”. After that, you’ll have about a minute left to highlight your favorite reasons for passing this tax on the wealthiest humans in WA. 

  • If you don’t get called on to testify, that’s probably because so many other people also signed up to talk about why they want to tax WA billionaires. Thanks so much for being there to show your support and for helping us virtually “pack the room”! It really makes a difference with legislators when they see how many of us are demanding they make the tough choice to tax the wealth of WA billionaires.

CAN’T MAKE IT TO THE HEARING? YOU CAN STILL SHOW SUPPORT for TAXING BILLIONAIRES BY SIGNING-IN “PRO” BEFORE 1:30PM TUESDAY. 

If you can’t make it on Tuesday because, unlike a billionaire, you don’t have people you pay to do stuff for you, you can sign-in “PRO” at this link here. You just have to add your name, some contact info, confirm you’re not a robot, and hit “submit”. It’s that easy!

NEED HELP CHOOSING YOUR FAVORITE REASON TO TAX WA BILLIONAIRES? CHECK OUT THESE TALKING POINTS TO GET STARTED

There are plenty of great reasons to tax WA billionaires and fund relief for the rest of us. You can highlight whatever your favorite reasons are when testifying (and remember, you probably won’t have more than about a minute to speak).

In case you’re having trouble choosing among all the great reasons to tax billionaires, here are a few talking points to get you started: 

  • This is a crisis for workers all across WA—and just a portion of the wealth billionaires are hoarding for themselves would help the rest of us make it through the crisis with food on our tables. 

  • Consider reminding legislators on the committee that while billionaires in WA have increased their wealth by $138 billion since the pandemic took hold, 2.2 million people in our state can’t afford groceries. That fact alone should frame the issue pretty clearly for legislators. 

  • It’s just plain wrong for a handful of people to hoard billions and billions of dollars, even when there’s not a pandemic. It’s time to make sure WA’s wealth works for all of us.  

  • Workers are the economy and we create the wealth that billionaires are claiming all for themselves—so it’s long past time the state forced them to share just a little bit with everyone else. 

  • WA has one of the most backwards tax codes in the country, which means many billionaires pay a lower tax rate than workers do. That’s messed up.

  • Even with all the financial obligations that come with owning a mega-yacht, paying the crew on a private Lear jet, and maintaining a massive art collection, we’re confident that WA’s billionaires can afford this tax without running the risk of losing their 5th-favorite mansion to foreclosure. 

  • WA resident Jeff Bezos was making approximately $12 million/hour over the summer as Amazon cashed in on the pandemic. That’s enough to buy a few private islands and still have some spending money left over for ice cream at the end of a hard day’s work.

  • It’s only fair that anyone in WA with literal billions of dollars should have to pay this tax. When you’ve got that kind of money, you’re hardly in a position to complain about paying just a small percentage back to society. Well, you certainly could complain, but that wouldn’t make this tax any less fair.