"...while decreasing...property tax..."

In other words, an even worse version of the current system, where Land Hogs and grandfathered in long timers rape the incomes of productive people.

Education and Transportation should only be funded by Property Tax.

I am a freelancer and am all in favor of a state income tax. But I fail to see why I should pay both the B&O tax (no matter how "reduced") AND an income tax. Are you thinking about exempting sole proprietors from the B&O, Noel?

"we let the people step up and fund our schools by a ballot initiative. "

Explain that, please.

You are way to nice: Washington State Budget. Republicans REFUSE to follow the law set down by the WA State Supreme Court to fund Education fully. Governor Inslee needs to take responsibility for setting the stage when he organized an $8.5 billion tax break and incentives giveaway to Boeing, which takes $8.5 billion away from any future needs of the people, education, and infrastructure. On top of this the legislators, both Democrats and Republicans have now amassed a $7.5 billion annual giveaway to 650 companies. This doesn’t include the Capital Gains tax break that if repealed would bring in $4 billion enough to fund the educational portion of the budget. None of these giveaways, more than $19 billion yearly have improved the economy, created jobs, in fact they have served to increase our poverty, hunger and homelessness. There is no excuse for 30,000 children in Washington State to go homeless every year. Shame on our Governor for not calling the legislators in until they fund education, making it absolutely critical for teachers to go on strike to get results. Shame on the Republicans for blocking taxes on the 12 billionaires, Bill Gates alone would have paid enough to cover the educational budget. Shame on the Democrats for not fighting harder for the people and our children.
Petition: Demand Gov. Inslee call emergency legislative session to fully fund WA state education https://www.change.org/p/jay-inslee-rand…
Blame the Billionaires, Not the Teachers http://www.thestranger.com/blogs/slog/20…
2015 Washington Budget: https://www.facebook.com/notes/washingto…

This seems like a credible strategy with some good specific tactics.

I campaigned for the income tax (1098) last time and got to mingle with people and listen to their issues and opinions on this matter. The common theme which got my ear was the general mistrust, resignation, and even anger of voters. It didn't matter if they were for or against the income tax, they wanted better and far more transparent financial management of public money from their elected leaders.

I think we lost because people didn't trust 1098 was going to tax the high earners as stated. Many thought the legislature was going to use that opening to come after the low wage earners too. Were voters wrong in mistrusting their elected representative?

Some people are resigned and believed things won't change despite replacing one politician for another or one party for another. It wasn't just the recession driving this state of funk. Even now, in better times, people may want to support something with their wallet, but they fear what they'll get is another expensive SNAFU. I find it surprising speaking with people who make (what I think) a very good living talked about how the living is not easy in this town. These people spoke of huge student debts, high mortgage payments, and LOL, high cost of living. People living on a budget, big or small, do get it and what ticks them off:

1. High cost overruns are now accepted as part of any public works project. I wonder if this is the legacy of WPPSS.
(http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?Dis…)

2. Voting for money slotted to go for one thing on the ballot, yet shifted to pay for something else is the new normal.

3. Finding new way to tax without spending constraint. Does this mean other taxes will go down so we are not doubly or triple funding a project (in this case, education)?The many forms of taxation make it very difficult and confusing for average citizento figure out which tax (fee) goes where or what the total annual tax burden is.

The questions for me becomes will the state income tax be used just for K-12 education? The WA Supreme Court used two quantitative measures to determine what constitutes sufficient funding for basic education: staffing ratio and staffing salaries. They did not look at educational outcome. Does the quality and outcome of education matter in this funding debate at all?

From the Citizen's Guide to WA state K-12 Finance doc:

"The Court does not require the state to provide a total education or the offerings of all knowledge, programs, subjects or services; however, the Court did find that the duty goes beyond mere reading, writing, and arithmetic. The Court noted that a basic education also “embraces broad educational opportunities needed in the contemporary setting to equip children for their role as citizens and as potential competitors in today’s market as well as in the marketplace of ideas.” Additionally, the Court found that the education required by the constitution does not reflect a right to a guaranteed educational outcome."

"When the state courts originally addressed these issues, there was no state definition of “basic education,” so the courts considered three definitions, and the cost of each, to determine whether the state provided sufficient funds to implement a basic education program. The courts noted that, in terms of “quantitative inputs,” staffing ratios (the ratio of staff to students) and staff salaries are the most significant factors in determining the cost of education."

http://leg.wa.gov/Senate/Committees/WM/D…

What a dumbshit: "There's no way to fix this problem without raising taxes."

1) Cut the vast number of wasteful programs in state government. (for example: Suquamish Inviting House, Longhouse and Museum will cost taxpayers $2,550,000. It was built for the same people that own Clearwater Creek Casino; Temporary light decorations for the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, $1.5 million; The Marine Employees’ Commission $422,000, a committee that meets to "foster relationships" between the ferry workers and WashDOT... the list is endless.)

2) Cut the vast number of wasteful programs in the school budgets. (The fraud-ridden Small Business Development Program costs $4.8 million in payroll each year. It helps small businesses contract with the district, a redundant effort to the procurement office.)

3) Develop a tuition credit school choice or voucher model, that equalizes the amount every kid gets for schooling, and let the choose whatever school they want. Competition and diversity of programs will wring-out needless costs, drive innovation and engage parents/students in education by making it a school the CHOOSE, not one to which they are ASSIGNED.

This is not hard to do.

Why do these "Community Organizers" (not a real job) keep rehashing the same shit over 40+ years and expect a different result?

Talk about a dumbshit - that'd be @9.
Vouchers - though they are the RWNJ wet dream - don't work. Schools do the choosing, not the parents/kids. Really good schools cost WAY more than the voucher is worth. Fly-by-night voucher schools spring up, take the money, then suddenly close. And yay - voucher schools teach creationism! Just what we need to complete the total dumbing down of America by the GOP. http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/blog/…

An initiative for an income tax with a constitutional bottom limit of 200K earnings.

Yes, let's increase taxes to continue our quixotic attempt to educate violent recidivists in South Seattle, while pretending that broken homes don't result in lousy students at best, and teen criminals at worst. I'm marginally pro-teacher, but these liberals can't seem to look up long enough from their Ta-Nehisi Coates articles to notice that the leftist social policies, that they fervently indoctrinate their students with, actually make their own jobs much harder than they would have been even 20 years ago.

Exactly on point, Noel, and well said! Fairer taxation will result in all kinds of progress becoming possible, and this sounds like a well reasoned strategy to get us there. We need to take the bull by the horns, and this is a way to do it.

Criticism of the governor is misplaced, Inslee's carbon tax proposal would have boosted revenue substantially. The Democrats in the legislature went for a progressive capital gains tax. The whole mess is the REPUBLICAN'S FAULT! Kick their asses out of Olympia and progress will be made.

I've asked legislators for years to work towards educating voters about our regressive tax system. They always say something like, "That's not our job. The voters won't listen to us. Advocacy groups need to do it."

Perhaps the politicians believe that they'll get slaughtered by the voters if they call for raising taxes. Perhaps the politicians are correct. The voters are completely taken in by the right wing noise machine. They're voting against their own self-interest.

Of course, the Republicans DID raises taxes -- on the poor and the middle class! They quietly raised the regressive gas tax in the last session, while touting loudly that they raised no new taxes.

But why don’t ex-governors Gregoire, Locke, and Lowry speak up about it, along with civic leaders such as Bill Gates, Senior? And what about the many other retired politicians?

Certainly, a high priority is educating the public. For one thing, we need more progressive AM talk radio. There are three or four conservative talk radio stations that spew constant anti-government propaganda.