Will the states finally tax the rich?

Lawmakers in seven states last month introduced legislation that aims, in some innovative ways, to raise taxes on their most fiscally favored. State lawmakers, says New York state senator Gustavo Rivera, need “to make sure we do at the state level what is not being done at the federal level.”

In Hawaiʻi, state senator Karl Rhoads is leading the way on a proposal for a new wealth tax that would place “a tax of 1 percent of net worth per year on taxpayers with assets of more than $20 million.” Economies do better, Rhoads points out, “if you have the wealth spread out more.”

Lawmakers are advancing a similar wealth tax initiative in California. Assembly member Alex Lee from San José has introduced legislation and an accompanying state constitutional amendment that would subject the state’s richest 0.1 percent to a 1 percent tax on wealth over $50 million and a 1.5 percent tax on wealth over $1 billion. California’s current constitution caps taxes on personal property at 0.4 percent.

The tax would generate an estimated annual $21.6 billion, enough, says Lee, to sustain needed investments in education, “tackle homelessness, maintain and expand needed services, and much more.”