February, 23's New York Times reports that state revenues are down for the fifth consecutive quarter, making this the longest unbroken period of economic decline since the Great Depression. Recently I've noticed the phrase "Great Recession" getting tossed about in the media. This may turn out to be optimistic.
As this year's legislative session in Olympia staggers to a close, the best that can be said is that things could have been more horrible. If a bill by Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson (D-Seattle) passes, the ridiculously paltry General Assistance - Unemployable benefits will be renamed as Disability Lifeline and only trimmed, under the governor's budget, as opposed to eliminated entirely. The State Housing Trust Fund, and with it whatever commitment Washington has to ever "ending homelessness," may or may not be saved as well.
The sky will fall less spectacularly than predicted. Advocates will claim measured victory for mitigating the disaster, and the consequences of an irrational tax system will roll on until we meet again next year. Then, there will be another mind-blowing deficit, more fighting for survival, and the next not-as-bad-as-it-could-have-been budget.
Unless.
We can change the playing field. Tax policy should be judged on whether it raises the necessary revenues and is fair. Washington state fails miserably on both counts. The conventional wisdom that no significant tax change is politically possible accepts Washington's deeply regressive tax system as inevitable. It is not.
Voters are anti-tax because they correctly feel that they already pay too much for too little. The tax burden needs to be spread to those most able to pay and justified by reliably providing the quality services we depend upon: education, infrastructure, public health and safety, economic security.
The notion that inequality must be supported and deepened by the tax structure leads nowhere but down; and down, as evidenced by the shape of inequality in the Third World, is bottomless. Policymakers know this but stand paralyzed. Unless they get shoved, they'll always be in the way. Start shoving now.