Dear Legislator,
Thank you for your leadership in the Washington State Legislature. As your constituent and a member of MomsRising, I am writing to share my support for ESSB 5096, a new tax on extraordinary profits from capital gains that will generate hundreds of millions of dollars in new resources to invest in child care as well as other community investments.
Our family stands in strong support of this bill. There is no way that our economy will rebound without child care. If parents with young children, especially mothers, aren’t able to find and afford child care there is no way that our communities or our economy will recover. Workers with children under six-years old represent 15% of Washington State’s workforce yet 63% of Washingtonians live in a child care desert - that was before the pandemic.[1] SB 5096 will make critical investments in child care and other essential services possible. Investments in child care are also critical to addressing the racial wealth gap. The impacts of the child care crisis are disproportionately felt by families who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). On average, BIPOC families pay half their annual median income on child care for two young children.[2]
Washington moms, parents, and families stand in strong support of a tax on extraordinary profits from capital gains. We need bold progressive tax policies that generate new resources to balance our state's tax code and generate new investments for critical community investments like child care and early learning. Thank you for all that you do!