MEDC 2010 Position on Raising Revenue

MEDC 2010 Position on Raising Revenue to Avoid Cuts to Health and Human Services Funding

Background

MEDC is a broad based association of over 150 community leaders, who are persons of color, working in mostly private, non-profit, health, human services, education, housing and community economic development sectors in King County.  Member groups also provide services and/or have partnership programs in Yakima.  Collectively, MEDC and its member agencies positively impact the lives of over 500,000 people annually.  As a coalition, MEDC unites African American, Chicano-Latino, Asian American, Pacific Islander and Native American community leaders to work collaboratively to improve the conditions and quality of life for people of color in our Region. 

Issue                                                                                                                                                            

During the 2009 Legislative session when faced with a large imbalance between outgoing expenditures and incoming revenues, the state did not seek out more revenues.  $4 billion dollars was cut from essential services resulting in devastation for many individuals, agencies, and communities.  The painful impact of these cuts resulted in larger class sizes, tens of thousands losing basic health care and decreased funding for hospitals and nursing homes.  Many of the cuts will cost far more than they saved over time, one example being public funding for family planning.

Facing a massive deficit of $2.6 billion dollars in 2010, Legislators and the Governor is faced with budget cuts again.  MEDC encourages this time around that additional revenue sources be identified so that the 6 million people living in Washington will not lose ground for services that help to keep communities strong and healthy.  MEDC fears that a no-new-revenue state budget would gut core services to the poor and suspend programs such as all-day kindergarten as a way to close a projected $2.6 billion budget shortfall.  These and other proposed cuts have and will continue to have a disproportionate impact on communities of color.

Other proposed major cuts that are unfair, harmful and negatively impact communities of color include:                                                                                                                                                     

1)  A sharp reduction in financial aid for college students;                                                                        

2)  Eliminating state-subsidized Basic Health insurance for thousands of low-income workers;

3)  General Assistance for people who can’t work because of disabilities (GA-U), $339 a month and Medicaid eligibility;                                                                                                                           

4)  The Washington New American Program in the Department of Commerce;                                       

5)  Services that support language access and acquisition;                                                                    

6)  Medical interpreter services;                                                                                                            

7)  Working Connections Child Care; and                                                                                                                                                   

 8) HIV/AIDS prevention and intervention programs.                                            

MEDC values health care for all, high-quality public education, fighting poverty and ending homelessness.  Cuts to child care for working families curtail parent’s ability to become self sufficient and is detrimental to their children’s school readiness.  Cuts to HIV/AIDS programs will undo the years of efforts put in to halting the spread of the virus in communities of color.  HIV/AIDS is not a virus that just runs its course and goes away.  The funding for fighting the spread of the virus is critical. In fact, funds are needed to increase the services and programs targeted towards HIV/AIDS prevention and intervention specific to subpopulations of African, American women, and Latinos.

MEDC is in full support of the buy back recommendations that the Governor proposed in her supplemental budget and through the redirection of funds from various fund transfers.  However, buy backs and the redirection of $900 million is not adequate.  These plans are too short sighted and short lived.  The 6 million people living in Washington cry out for long term solutions.  The state will face an even more severe budget deficit in 2011 -2013.  Therefore MEDC recommends that during this legislative session sufficient revenues are considered to raise $1.7 Billion in new revenues to avoid cuts to health and human services, education and basic needs or these and past cuts will further erode the quality of life for the people of Washington State. 

To weather the present storm and the impending storms of the future it will be necessary to work towards a more progressive tax policy that raises adequate revenue.  We suggest the following recommendations which can work in combination together to weather the present storm and to avoid the impending storms of the future.   

Action/Legislative Request  

  1. MEDCS urges Legislators and the Governor to repeal under-performing tax exemptions, beginning with the largest and sunset all tax exemptions every 10 years;
  2. Support significant revenue increases that are progressive in structure as MEDC opposes regressive sales tax increases;
  3. Implement a state income tax on high-income earners;
  4. Raise at least two-thirds of the budget gap in revenues, balanced by one-third or less in cuts to services;     
  5. Close tax loop holes that don’t create jobs;                                                                                       
  6.  Increase taxes on sin products like tobacco, candy, pop and elective cosmetic surgeries; and                  
  7.  Tax products that is detrimental to human environmental health and the health of the natural environment as a whole such as hazardous substance and plastic water bottles as two examples.