TAX INCREASES WILL COST EVEN MORE WASHINGTONIANS THEIR JOBS

[Confederate Kahanist]

http://www.washingtonpolicy.org/pressroom/pressreleases/TaxAd2010.html



Olympia – Today Washington Policy Center (WPC) is running a full-page ad in The Olympian warning lawmakers about the impact of tax increases.  The ad uses information from Washington Research Council’s new study, “The Economic Impact of Hiking Taxes to Close the Budget Gap.”

“As legislators wrestle with the state budget shortfall, it’s important that they recognize the effects of tax hikes on job preservation and creation,” says Dr. Kriss Sjoblom, VP for Research and Economist with the Washington Research Council.

According to the study, increasing the state Business and Occupation tax (B&O) by $1 billion would eliminate up to 15,072 jobs.  A $2.6 billion B&O tax increase would cost 38,968 Washingtonian’s their jobs.

“Raising the B&O tax on businesses, some of which are struggling and are not making a profit, would have serious ramifications not only on businesses but also workers,” said Carl Gipson, Small Business Director for the WPC.  “Thousands of jobs are at stake with this decision.  Burdening small businesses with higher taxes today will lead to fewer jobs and lower economic output tomorrow.”

A $1 billion sales tax increase would eliminate 14,759 jobs.  A $2.6 billion sales tax increase would eliminate 38,024 jobs.

“Washingtonians are already struggling in the worst economy since the 1930s.  Lawmakers should not try to make balancing the budget easier by making people’s lives harder,” said Paul Guppy, the WPC’s Vice President for Research.

The study shows jobs losses by 2013.  Since it is impossible to forecast how the legislature would spend the money collected from tax increases, the ad highlights the impact of just the tax increases.  The study shows job losses could be mitigated depending on how lawmakers chose to spend the new tax revenue.

“To put the state on firm fiscal footing, any budget adopted must not raise taxes during a recession, or result in a projected deficit in the next biennium,” said Jason Mercier, Government Reform Director for WPC.  “This will mean that some of the programs we’ve grown accustomed to during good times must be eliminated.  Taking more money from businesses and cutting people’s take-home pay through higher taxes is not the solution.”