Bill > HB2936

This bill provides a new tool for the public and legislature to determine if proposed changes in revenue sources, tax preferences, or tax exemptions result in making Washington state's tax structure more or less regressive. The key provisions of the bill include: 1. Requiring the Office of Financial Management to prepare a "revenue equity statement" for certain state ballot measures, describing the projected impact on the average effective tax rate imposed on Washington residents by income quintile and the measure's impact on the regressivity of the state tax code. 2. Requiring the Director of Financial Management to establish a process for providing "tax rate equity statements" for legislative bills, which would provide similar information about the bill's impact on the regressivity of the state tax system. 3. Amending the requirements for the voters' pamphlet to include the revenue equity statement for ballot measures. 4. Requiring the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee to consider a tax preference's impact on the regressivity of the state's tax system when evaluating whether to continue, modify, or terminate the preference. The overall goal of the bill is to provide more transparency and analysis around the distributional impacts of changes to Washington's tax system, with a focus on ensuring that the tax code does not become more regressive over time.