The Case For Progressive Revenue
For this issue of the Union Spotlight, we asked several members and staff about the impacts their locals are facing due to the lack of progressive revenue in Washington state. The budget discussions in this legislative session throw into stark relief both the need for progressive revenue, where the wealthy are required to pay their fair share of the state's expenses as working Washingtonians do, and the impact of budget cuts that are being made due to the state's need for increased, stable revenue.
Bob Downing, AFT Washington Union Organizing Representative
If we taxed the wealthy adequately, we could provide free college to all Washingtonians. College for all would not only be a great benefit to the majority working-class taxpayers in our state, but it would also help the state meet its goal to train the workforce of the future.
As it is right now, we have a patched-together higher education system that is failing to prepare us for tomorrow’s economy. Our colleges rely on adjunct faculty that they can pay less and let go without notice. Colleges make sudden decisions to close programs without consulting other state leaders regarding whether those programs are important. Programs such as apprenticeships or Adult Basic Education are under-supported. Students are directly harmed by the way we treat higher education in Washington.
A few years ago, we had to fight to save the Maritime program at Seattle Central College. This is the program that trains workers to run our state’s fleet of ferries—it’s widely known that our ferry system has been plagued with problems and delays and cancelled sailings, often because of lack of staff. Closing the program would do nothing to support our ferry system. We did save it, but that it was even a fight was ridiculous. There are countless examples of program closures that remove opportunity from our students and work against the state’s interests.
All of this – plus that college, for many, means taking on significant debt – is counterproductive and hurts everyone in the state.
Our colleges don’t get enough funding because we don’t tax the wealthy the same as working people, and then decisions are made to make state staffing crises even worse, not just in our colleges, but in the industries they supply workers for. It doesn’t make sense, but that’s our current system without progressive revenue.
Merrilee Miron, AFT Washington Retiree Chapter Local 8045R
Since 2018, Washington state retirees on the TRS 1 and PERS 1 plans, two of the state’s legacy pension plans which closed in 1977, have received “one-time” COLAs five times. The Legislature voted to increase retirees’ pension compensation in 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023, and 2024. A permanent COLA was proposed this last session but failed.
Proposals have been made to merge LEOFF 1 with the other two legacy plans and use the overinvestment in LEOFF to provide a COLA for all members of the legacy plans. It has also been proposed to take that overinvestment and apply it to the state’s General Fund as new revenue – the Seattle Times recently ran an editorial on this.
None of this makes sense. Our education system retirees spent their working lives educating students and giving them the tools and opportunity to achieve thriving lives. They deserve a stable retirement that keeps up with the rising cost of living. That shouldn’t be assured by taking money from other retirement accounts, and certainly not by taking money from retirement accounts to close the state’s funding gaps.
The solution is progressive revenue. We believe in secure retirement, where you do not have to make hard choices between medical costs or housing, or all of the other choices that come with insecure finances. Washington must find other ways to fund its priorities, including education for current students and wages for the state’s workforce, than by forcing the oldest retirees in the state to absorb increased costs and increased insecurity.
We stand for progressive revenue, for a secure retirement for current retirees, and for future retirees too.
Donna Pham, AFT Seattle Professional Staff Local 6550
Especially since COVID, our students have been struggling to be successful with less: less staff to support them and fewer sections and classes offered. Now our college is having a new budget crisis, trying to lay off even more support staff and trying to force us all to take furlough days. This is unsustainable!
We need progressive revenue in our state because we all depend on a vibrant, public higher education system. In fact, many of the tech companies and CEOs that get away with paying low or no taxes are happy to hire our graduates. I get tired of their hypocrisy as they rely on us to train the workforce of the future, but then they don’t want to support us.
The people who pay the price for this greed are the students, who sense the distress we all feel in the community and technical college system. We want to offer them more support, more counselling, more classes and programs—but we keep butting up against a budget crisis that stems from the wealthy avoiding paying their fair share.
It’s time for a change so that we can educate more Washingtonians and create a fair economy for all of us. It’s time for progressive revenue in Washington!
Melissa Roach, Tacoma Federation of Education Support Professionals, Local 461
Tacoma Public Schools is facing a 30-million-dollar budget shortfall that has resulted in our local receiving roughly 200 position displacements for the 25/26 school year. Whole programs have been cut that were heavily staffed by ESPs. Progressive revenue would have largely eliminated this shortfall and provided funding for the district that is needed to have support staff available for our most vulnerable students.
Our local lost employees who have been dedicated to this work for their whole careers. Those employees lost insurance, security, and of course, small incomes that support their families. Unfortunately, many of our ESPs are also parents of students attending the district. As one of the largest employers in Tacoma, these cuts do not only affect these families, but they also directly correlate with community financial health. It is beyond time that the people who earn exceptionally high salaries in our state pay their fair share. There is too much wealth in Washington state for large districts, like Tacoma, to be struggling to support the communities they represent.
The citizens of Tacoma have never voted down a levy or a bond that supports our schools. There is simply not enough coming in from the district for salaries and program funds. For Title 1 districts, this leaves our students further disadvantaged than they have to be. The ESPs who were displaced because of this are the backbone of our district. They live in the communities they serve. They know their students and celebrate their highs and grieve their lows with them. We all deserve better.
Ty Underwood, Lake Washington Institute of Technology Local 3533
In the Community and Technical College System in Washington state, we know that our programs are the engine that create new skilled workers for our state economy. Thousands of workers build, design, cook, heal, and grow everything around us. Because of our work, the handful of people who own the businesses we work for take the majority of the surplus of our labor for themselves.
The bosses love living in our beautiful state, surrounded by the places built by us, being cared for by us, and enjoying the nature that we protect and cultivate. With progressive revenue taxation, they would pay their fair share from their vast accumulated profit to invest back into the schools and training programs that make Washington state so beautiful.
Unfortunately, our schools are suffering. This year there will be furloughs, and some campuses are selling buildings. All of our programs are cutting back on classes and faculty. All this is happening while our graduates are earning record profits for the bosses! All year, we have heard every week about the state budget shortfall and how that will impact our programs, especially the most low-cost and vulnerable programs like English Language Learners.
The solution is simple. Washington’s wealthy have been allowed to opt out of paying their share, while working Washingtonians pay more. Our legislature and governor can ensure a thriving future for all of us that includes strong schools, essential services, and community support with progressive revenue.