Firelands Workers United launched their canvass campaign earlier this month with 40 member leaders and 7 member captains who for the next 12 weeks will target 5,000 Spanish- and English-speaking voters in rural Washington’s Grays Harbor County to defeat Ballot Measure 2109–driven by Washington state billionaires to repeal the Capital Gains Tax and the Climate Commitment Act, which progressive organizations had organized to win in the state legislature.
Washington has one of the most regressive tax codes in the nation, pushing the poorest families to pay up to six times more of their income in taxes than the wealthiest 1 percent.
The Capital Gains Tax and Climate Commitment Act will create an estimated $900 million dollars in revenue which will fund school, childcare and early childhood programs and services. Additionally it will create 10,000 jobs, $100 million to repair and weatherize homes and $38 million for free transportation.
This tax on the wealthiest will stimulate Washington’s economy, provide critical relief to working parents and make the regressive state and local tax code more equitable and fair.