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NoneA Democratic state senator’s errant email is shedding light on new taxes that she and her colleagues may pursue in 2025 as well as a strategy to sell them to the public. Sen. Noel Frame , D-Seattle, sent the missive last Friday as a follow-up to discussion during a Washington state Senate Democratic Caucus retreat. But she inadvertently blasted it out to every Republican senator too. You can predict what happened next. Her email and attached PowerPoint presentation found their way onto social media. A furor followed. Conservative podcaster Brandi Kruse, a former television journalist, led the way, calling the materials “worse than getting a lump of coal in your stocking.” “Probably the worst email and ideas in state history,” wrote Rep. Travis Couture , R-Allyn, on X. He will be the lead Republican on the House Appropriations Committee next session. Frame on Monday described the email mixup as a “very simple error.” She said her presentation was intended as an “education exercise” for her Democratic colleagues. With the state facing a multi-billion dollar shortfall, she said her role as vice chair of finance on the Senate Ways and Means Committee is to explore tax options while others try to identify savings. “I wanted to get the conversation started early. Not this early. Now, every legislator is better prepared,” she said Frame’s email says the quiet part out loud. House Speaker Laurie Jinkins and Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen have said voters’ preserving of the capital gains tax in the November election is a sign they’re comfortable with requiring super-wealthy individuals and large businesses to pay a little more. And Democratic budget writers in the two chambers have already indicated that they plan to consider all revenue options to erase a shortfall estimated between $12 billion and $16 billion over the next four-and-a-half fiscal years. They’ve just not itemized tax policies in the manner Frame did. For example, there have been private conversations on attempting a statewide version of Seattle’s JumpStart tax levied on companies with large payrolls and high-paid employees . Frame puts it atop her list. The idea is employers would pay a tax on the total compensation paid to employees making more than $168,600 annually. It would affect companies with an annual payroll of $8 million or more in Washington. A “wealth tax” is on her list as well. Last year, she proposed a 1% levy on intangible assets above $250 million such as cash, bonds and stocks. Gov. Jay Inslee last week called for a similar tax on wealth above $100 million. Frame’s PowerPoint includes a guesstimate of what might be raised if the threshold is lowered to $50 million. In addition, Frame suggests the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate could make another run at a 1% real estate transfer tax on any portion of property sales above $3.025 million. That proposal didn’t reach the finish line last session. Her roster includes a 1% surcharge on taxes paid by the state’s largest corporations, an excise tax on guns and ammunition sales, a lift of the 1% cap on annual property tax increases , and a sales tax on self-storage unit rentals. “We can fund world-class schools, affordable housing, and more by making the wealthy few pay what they owe,” reads the PowerPoint. “We have to identify the villain and the problem blocking our progress and how we can take action to solve the issue.” Pedersen said Monday he doesn’t think it’s “necessarily a bad thing” the email got out. Democrats are trying to be transparent on the pluses and minuses of different revenue options, he said, adding that there will be months of discussion “before we get to the answer.” Even so, Pedersen distanced himself from the content. “The PowerPoint contained language that Sen. Frame was trying to sell the caucus on and I’ll say that reflects Sen. Frame’s viewpoint, and that’s not necessarily the viewpoint of any other member,” he said. Frame also outlined tax relief ideas such as a renters’ credit and a property tax exemption for one’s primary residence. A margin tax for businesses is on the list too. This would allow a company to choose a major deduction — like the cost of labor — before tax is calculated on its gross receipts. In her email, Frame invited her Democratic colleagues to reach out if they had interest in sponsoring a revenue bill. “Let’s spread that tax policy love around! 😊,” she wrote. 2025 Revenue Discussion slides The PowerPoint presentation emailed by Sen. Noel Frame featuring discussion and possible messaging about tax policy proposals for 2025. 2025 SDC revenue policy handout – FINAL The PowerPoint presentation emailed by Sen. Noel Frame listing tax policy options Democrats could choose to consider in 2025. Washington State Standard is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Washington State Standard maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Bill Lucia for questions: info@washingtonstatestandard.com .
This Iron Condor Gives Nuclear Oklo Stock A Wide Range For ProfitThe UN General Assembly on Wednesday overwhelmingly adopted a resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, a symbolic gesture rejected by the United States and Israel. The resolution -- adopted by a vote of 158-9, with 13 abstentions -- urges "an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire," and "the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages" -- wording similar to a text vetoed by Washington in the Security Council last month. At that time, Washington used its veto power on the Council -- as it has before -- to protect its ally Israel, which has been at war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the Palestinian militant group's October 7, 2023 attack. It has insisted on the idea of making a ceasefire conditional on the release of all hostages in Gaza, saying otherwise that Hamas has no incentive to free those in captivity. Deputy US Ambassador Robert Wood repeated that position Wednesday, saying it would be "shameful and wrong" to adopt the text. Ahead of the vote, Israel's UN envoy Danny Danon said: "The resolutions before the assembly today are beyond logic. (...) The vote today is not a vote for compassion. It is a vote for complicity." The General Assembly often finds itself taking up measures that cannot get through the Security Council, which has been largely paralyzed on hot-button issues such as Gaza and Ukraine due to internal politics, and this time is no different. The resolution, which is non-binding, demands "immediate access" to widespread humanitarian aid for the citizens of Gaza, especially in the besieged north of the territory. Dozens of representatives of UN member states addressed the Assembly before the vote to offer their support to the Palestinians. "Gaza doesn't exist anymore. It is destroyed," said Slovenia's UN envoy Samuel Zbogar. "History is the harshest critic of inaction." That criticism was echoed by Algeria's deputy UN ambassador Nacim Gaouaoui, who said: "The price of silence and failure in the face of the Palestinian tragedy is a very heavy price, and it will be heavier tomorrow." Hamas's October 2023 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. That count includes hostages who died or were killed while being held in Gaza. Militants abducted 251 hostages, 96 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel's retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed at least 44,805 people, a majority of them civilians, according to data from the Hamas-run health ministry that is considered reliable by the United Nations. "Gaza today is the bleeding heart of Palestine," Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour said last week during the first day of debate in the Assembly's special session on the issue. "The images of our children burning in tents, with no food in their bellies and no hopes and no horizon for the future, and after having endured pain and loss for more than a year, should haunt the conscience of the world and prompt action to end this nightmare," he said, calling for an end to the "impunity." After Wednesday's vote, he said "we will keep knocking on the doors of the Security Council and the General Assembly until we see an immediate and unconditional ceasefire put in place." The Gaza resolution calls on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to present "proposals on how the United Nations could help to advance accountability" by using existing mechanisms or creating new ones based on past experience. The Assembly, for example, created an international mechanism to gather evidence of crimes committed in Syria starting from the outbreak of civil war in 2011. A second resolution calling on Israel to respect the mandate of the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and allow it to continue its operations was passed Wednesday by a vote of 159-9 with 11 abstentions. Israel has voted to ban the organization starting January 28, after accusing some UNRWA employees of taking part in Hamas's devastating attack. abd/sst/jgc/nro/des