His post, complete with a smiling photo of him holding an American flag in his right hand under the words “A Millionaires Tax? Let’s Try Shared Prosperity!” went viral almost instantly, racking up over 11,000 reactions and hundreds of comments as it was shared by Gov. Ferguson and Washington Senate Democrats alike.
The new law, which imposes a 9.9% tax on individual income above $1 million per year, will fund expanded childcare, free school meals for all Washington students, and expanded Working Families Tax Credits for hundreds of thousands of lower-income households. For Steves, who has long been an advocate for progressive taxation and equitable public investment, the math was simple.
“And—for those of us with a heart for the public good—it’s simply common sense,” he wrote.
He also took aim at Washington’s long-standing tax structure, which relies heavily on a regressive sales tax and has been routinely ranked among the most unequal in the nation for its burden on low-income residents. “It’s time to change our upside-down tax system,” Steves wrote.
