WA Tech Industry Fires a Very Sharp Warning At Dems Over Proposed “Millionaires” Tax

For those who don't closely follow WA politics, the real 'street truth' for years has been the Democratic-run legislature has largely left their tax hands off the tech industry, because a lot of financial candidate support has been steered their way.

But now, it appears to be changing.

  WA Tech Leaders, Investors Issue Strongest Warnings So Far over Millionaires Tax

Legislative insiders are saying the Democrat-controlled legislature has become so emboldened by their grip on state government they've now turned toward WA State's tech industry for additional taxes and revenue, and are not afraid of any 'fallout.'

The 9.9 percent tax would apply to those who earn $1 million or more in WA state. According to Geekwire, experts say while this tax (at least until it's lowered) won't affect the typical worker, it would have a profound effect on growth and development.

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The president of non-profit Washington Roundtable, Rachel Smith, who represents a wide variety of major empoyers, says such a tax would have "major" economic consequences, and they are not taking this proposal lightly.

The Message is Being Sent Loud and Clear

A much more harsh response to the proposal came from Kirby Winfield, a founding general partner in Seattle's Ascend venture capital firm. He told Geekwire the tax would be another "brick in the wall of anti-entrepreneurialism" and policies like this are devastating to company creation.

He finished by saying:

“Washington does not value job creation or wealth creation for risk-taking founders and startup employees.”

Gov. Bob Ferguson claims the tax would only affect 0.5 percent of Washington workers, but those who make a million or more (or much more) especially in the tech industry are very vested in creating new business, startups and other operations.

The tech sector contributes about 22 percent of WA state's Growth Domestic Product, or GDP. 10 percent of all workers in WA are involved in tech, and 1.2 percent of the state's workforce is involved in tech startups. While that number may be small, many of these smaller companies provide innovation that helps the much larger firms produce better products.

Inceased taxes and unfriendly business climates cause significant declines in growth and new industry.

Many business experts say tech firms are among the most mobile of any industry, some joke that all they have to do is unplug the blade servers and leave. For the first time in decades, it appears many of them are preparing to do just that if conditions don't change.