KPLU: Washington Voters Once Passed an Income Tax by a Wider Margin Than Vote for Legal Booze

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, says Washington’s tax system is the most regressive in the nation. That’s because with our state’s heavy reliance on sales tax and lack of an income tax, the poorest 20 percent of residents pay 16.8 percent of their income in state and local taxes, while the richest pay 2.4 percent.

Many Democrats and some Republicans say the system set up in the 1930s isn’t adequate for the 21st century.

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