Adison Richards finds himself among Democrats taking heat from more progressive members of the Washington State Legislature for failing to support the adoption of a statewide income tax this year. But Richards’ rationale for voting “no” is not a betrayal of the values of his party; rather, it was an affirmation of them.
He didn’t believe the policy as passed was sufficient in helping to reduce the state’s sky-high cost of living, particularly for working Washingtonians.
Richards is a smart and principled lawmaker with a finely tuned ear for his district — the 26th, spanning Bremerton to the Key Peninsula, and arguably the most politically purple in the entire state. He has earned a second term to represent his constituents in Olympia.
It’s easy to say that, under Washington’s tax code, working families pay too much and the richest residents too little — but what are the ways legislators will allocate the money they do receive from taxpayers? Richards argued that a cut to the overall sales tax rate, paired with the income tax, would have instantly put money back into the pockets of those who could least afford to pay it. His caucus may have refused to follow his lead, but his insistence on helping those afflicted most by the state’s affordability crisis doesn’t make him any less of a Democrat that his peers.
Further, Richards’ support of reproductive healthcare, belief in addressing climate change and advocacy for a robust social safety net should leave no doubt of his Democratic credentials.
Richards drew a fellow Democrat, to his political left, as a challenger. Natalie Bornfleth, a union member who worked at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and is a South Kitsap School District teacher, told the editorial board she wants to increase the state’s capital gains tax, create a payroll tax and even return the estate tax to the nation’s highest rate, something even most Democratic state lawmakers rolled back this year because of capital flight fears. And those who try to take their money elsewhere?
“If a company wants to leave, I think there needs to be an exit tax,” she argued.
Taxes aren’t a silver bullet for the state’s problems. To pile more on is to continue the Legislature’s irresponsible spending that has left the state in a financial mess.
Republican David Olson, a school board member who two years ago challenged Chris Reykdal for the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, makes the case for a return to fiscal responsibility in Olympia, but the district already has a champion in Richards for that. He deserves the vote in the 26th.
