In this state, you might be better off being a chicken

From The Olympian:

By Diane Sosne, president of Service Employees International Union Healthcare 1199NW, representing more than 22,000 nurses and other health care workers in Washington state.

Bill just wanted a home with a warm bed. Too bad he's not a chicken, because under Washington state law he'd be getting better treatment.

Bill, a south Puget Sound-area resident, suffers from mental illness and chemical dependency. In his mid-20s, he’s been working on getting treatment and rebuilding his life. Last year he got into a clean and sober house. He was able to pay the $300 monthly room-share rent thanks to Disability Lifeline, a state program that provides modest cash grants to help disabled adults purchase basic necessities such as rent. The home gave Bill stability and a chance to get the help he needs.

Then last fall the state cut monthly Disability Lifeline payments from $339 to $258. Bill could no longer afford to rent his apartment, and began sleeping on the street. Without the support he needed, he relapsed, found himself in jail, then ended up in an intensive inpatient treatment facility.

Now about those chickens: Ten years ago, the state Legislature passed a special tax break to benefit a few dozen factory farms that raise chickens. There’s a tax break on bedding – wood shavings, sawdust, straw, shredded paper – and another tax break for natural gas to heat the barns so the birds can stay warm. All told, these tax breaks cost Washington $4.5 million over the last four years. With the state facing a $5 billion deficit, it’s time for the corporate chicken farms to pay their fair share.

After all, what’s more important – a roof over the head of a fellow human being, or corporate tax breaks to underwrite soft bedding for next week’s casserole?

Faced with that basic question of values and priorities, the state Legislature acted decisively: When they convened in January, they slashed Disability Lifeline benefits again, to a paltry $193 per month. As for the poultry bedding and heating tax breaks, the Legislature left them untouched.

They also left untouched tax breaks for private jet owners; for people who get elective cosmetic surgery; for stockbrokers and mortgage brokers; for big out-of-state banks; for corporations that laid off hundreds of workers. All told, the Legislature left more than 567 tax breaks untouched.

Instead, lawmakers cut health care for the elderly and for pregnant women. They cut funding for kids in day care. They cut home care services for seniors. They cut food and housing for people who need it most.

And they cut Bill.

Sadly, and ironically, taxpayers will carry a far heavier burden paying Bill’s incarceration (about $300 a day) and hospitalization (more than $500 a day) than the $339 a month for Disability Lifeline, which helped Bill get back on his feet.

Cutting Bill’s Disability Lifeline cost a fellow human being his stability. And it cost all of us taxpayers thousands of dollars. It was a foolish budget choice.

State leaders need to stop making budget choices that cost taxpayers more in the long run. The Legislature should close tax loopholes to preserve basic services, because in these tough times, corporations should pay their fair share. I’m confident the chickens will understand.

Rewind

The Great Recession has taken a terrible toll: As of January 2011, 26 million Americans were out of work, four million families lost their homes to foreclosure; four and half million more have slipped into foreclosure process. Nearly $11 trillion in household wealth -- retirement savings, college tuition plans -- has vanished.
And what caused this calamity? Did the government have a "Five-Year Plan" that went horribly wrong? Did the Fed wrongly recalibrate currency rates that plunged exports?
No. It was big business run amok. In a phrase, the housing bubble burst. And what caused the housing bubble? "Low interest rates, easy and available credit, scant regulation and toxic mortgages" -- that's from the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission.
Capitalism a great and wonderful thing. But left unfettered and unregulated, it will inevitably turn to scams and corruption - in the short-term, it's always more profitable to cut corners and make the cheap, fast buck.
And so we have a situation where our core government services -- education, health care -- are being scaled back, while bankers still go about their lives, cashing in bonuses and pondering whether it's time to upgrade the BMW. There is a moral argument to be made here, but the economic argument is better: if we can't build the best brains in the next generation, we will weaken as a nation. And that will make everyone even poorer.

Guest Editorial in Seattle Times

By Diane Sosne

OUR state is ailing: One in six Washingtonians is unemployed or underemployed; a million Washingtonians lack access to health care; a third of all Puget Sound mortgage-holders are underwater; and 300,000 kids are at risk of going hungry.

Our state budget is in trouble, with projected deficits of more than $5 billion. Unfortunately, many state leaders want to treat the budget problem with cuts that will only exacerbate human suffering. Instead, they should be looking at healthier options, including closing tax loopholes.

Read the rest here

MORTGAGE BROKERS GET TAX BREAK, EVERYONE ELSE GETS SCREWED

In this time of budget crisis, we need to ask: do mortgage brokers need million dollar breaks?

The state tax code contains hundreds of giveaways to special interests that drain taxpayer money just as we’re considering huge tuition hikes and the elimination of health care and other important programs. Since 1997, mortgage brokers have received a B&O tax exemption for money received from trust accounts.

In the last four years, this tax break has cost the public $4.8 million, and it benefits only mortgage brokers.

What’s at stake? How else could we spend $4.8 million?

Ashley Molenda works with some of the most vulnerable members of our community at DESC, an emergency service center in downtown Seattle. Ashley's program makes one-on-one contact with mentally ill people living on the streets—people in dire need of help—with counseling, housing, and maintaining access to medication and other services. The program saves lives; it also saves money by helping clients remain self-sufficient and avoid hospitalization or needless arrests. “If we don't reach these people to provide help, nobody else will,” says Ashley. “Without effective treatment, they will just bounce back and forth from emergency rooms, to jail, to the street. It's a cycle that cuts lives short. It also costs the public more in the long run.”

There should be no sacred cows when it comes to balancing the budget, not for mortgage brokers or anyone else. There is simply too much at stake.

IT’S TIME TO MAKE OUR TAX CODE WORK

Amelia Earhart flew from California to Hawaii. The first canned beer was sold. Adolf Hitler started to re-arm Germany. And Washington state legislators enacted the Revenue Act. All this happened in 1935. While history has moved on, Washington’s tax code stood still. It still contains outdated breaks and exemptions that cost the public millions of dollars each year. The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee has studied many of these and recommended action. But over the years, bills to fix these dusty relics have failed. With Initiative 1053 unconstitutionally tying the hands of our elected officials by requiring a 2/3^rd majority to end tax loopholes, Olympia isn’t providing solutions.

In this time of financial crisis, the Legislature must re-examine outdated, wasteful tax breaks that are hurting the middle class. If cuts to college tuition, health care for working families and medical assistance for our most vulnerable people are on the table, we should also take a hard look at tax laws written when FDR was president.

Year enacted: 1935

What’s it about: Interstate transportation

What it does: Gives shipping companies a tax break if they move goods across the state line.

Number of businesses that take advantage of it: unknown

Cost to taxpayers: $27 million

What the legislative committee says: Because the U.S. Constitution no longer prohibits the instate portion of interstate transportation from being taxed, the public utility tax should be imposed on these activities.

Legislative inaction: No bill has been introduced to remove this exemption

Year enacted: 1935

What’s it about: Agricultural producers

What it does: Gives a business-and-occupation tax exemption to farmers regardless of income

Number of businesses that take advantage of it: 35,000

Cost to taxpayers: $29.6 million

What the legislative committee says: Given the fact that incomes have increased significantly for some farms since the period of financial hardships when this tax exemption was enacted, the Legislature should consider establishing an income threshold in order to qualify for the business and occupation tax exemption for agricultural producers.

Legislative inaction: One bill was introduced in 2010 to eliminate the B&O tax exemptions for agricultural producers, but it was not enacted.

Year enacted: 1935

What’s it about: Urban transportation and vessels

What it does: Taxes transportation-related businesses at different rates

Number of businesses that take advantage of it: 2,015

Cost to taxpayers: $6.2 million

What the legislative committee says: The Legislature should review the policy of taxing transportation related business activity at different public utility tax rates based on where a transportation service takes place or the size of a vessel in which the service is conducted.

Legislative inaction: Two bills were introduced in 2010. One would have eliminated the tax preference altogether. The other would have retained the urban transportation and vessels under 65 feet classification, but eliminated the preferential rate. Neither bill was enacted.

Year enacted: 1935

What’s it about: Membership dues and fees

What it does: Clubs able to deduct membership dues

Number of businesses that take advantage of it: 218

Cost to taxpayers: $2 million

What the legislative committee says: The Legislature should clarify which clubs should qualify and provide a simple method to value this deduction.

Legislative inaction: Three bills were introduced in 2010. Two limited the B&O tax exemption for membership dues and fees to only nonprofit organizations. The other eliminated the entire tax preference. None of the bills were enacted.

Our Voices: Letter to Editor in Auburn Reporter

Wanda Gardner, certified nursing assistant at Valley Medical Center, got this incredible letter to the editor published in the Auburn Reporter:

I'm worried that our state is looking in the wrong place for solutions to our budget crisis by closing programs that will directly harm tens of thousands of people.

The same amount of money could be saved just by closing a few tax loopholes for wealthy corporations, which get billions of dollars in state tax breaks every year. If sacrifices are needed, then it's only fair that they should be shared - not required mainly from those least able to afford it.

Working at a hospital, I see firsthand how economic hard times are hurting people in our community. More people are showing up in emergency rooms because they can't afford health insurance. People with mental illness or substance abuse problems can't get the help they need, and often wind up at the hospital, too.

It's a no-brainer that when times are tough, more people will need a little extra help getting by - and that places a greater need on health care and social service programs that serve low-income people - programs like Basic Health and the Disability Lifeline.

But instead of finding a way to expand these programs to meet the need, the state is cutting them to plug its budget holes. Those cuts will make life harder for many people already struggling to get by. It will mean more people showing up in emergency rooms, homeless shelters and jails.

Everyone I know understands that when times are tough, some sacrifices need to be made by everyone in the community including wealthy corporations. Families and small business already have done their share. That's why I think we need to look at all our budget options, like closing those tax loopholes before cutting essential services like health care and education.

In particular, the state should look at taking back some of the $6.5 billion worth of state tax loopholes we're currently giving to corporations every year. Some of those tax breaks are probably beneficial to the people of Washington. But we should put them all on the table for consideration before cutting services that our families, neighbors and patients rely on. That's the kind of fairness that real accountability demands.

What's at stake

Every parent of school-age kids knows a simple fact: the fewer the kids in a classroom, the better. This New York Times story about the trends of growing class sizes states: "Since the 1980s, teachers and many other educators have embraced research finding that smaller classes foster higher achievement."
But the Great Recession has sent states scrambling for money, and stuffed classrooms to the gills. This is bad news for K-12 parents, but it doesn't get better for families sending a kid to college. With double-digit tuition increases on the horizon, it looks like education is being sacrificed on the alter of an all-cuts budget. Just another example of the middle class getting squeezed.