For all the talk about Washington state’s unfair regressive sales tax, this also is a regressive tax,” writes the editorial board at the Tri-City Herald. “Think about it. Every worker is supposed to pay into the program, but people living paycheck to paycheck can least afford to take the deductions. And it may very well be that their contributions help buoy a system that provides benefits to others but not to them.”
Bingo. Pay attention to this opinion. The editorial board gets it. The regressivity within this state-imposed program is one of the easiest reasons to be against the 2019 long-term-care law containing a tax that begins in July. The payroll tax will take 58 cents of every $100 a W-2 worker in Washington state makes.
Read more shortcomings of the state’s new long-term-care plan in the Tri-City Herald’s editorial, “WA paychecks will take a hit this summer. Long-term care tax is about to get real.” The plan, which is not patient-centered and has a tax that will hurt workers’ ability to save for life’s many needs, is coming soon to a paycheck near you.
— Elizabeth Hovde is the Centers for Health Care and Worker Rights director at the Washington Policy Center. Email her at ehovde@washingtonpolicy.org
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