Good morning, everyone.
I appreciate.
all members of our movement being here and also members of the media joining us for this important press conference.
As a movement that has been fighting to tax big business and raise progressive revenues to begin addressing the extremely serious social problems in our city and region, we welcome any attempt to raise progressive revenues, whether at the city level, the county level, or the state level.
As a matter of fact, as somebody who spends 18-hour days year after year working for the movement, I would be nothing less than delighted if the state legislature were to announce today that they are going to pass every kind of big business taxation at the state level so that we can address all our problems from the gutting of funding to public education to the serious affordable housing crisis that we see from Seattle to Spokane so that our city didn't have to fight separately.
But that hasn't happened, and so we have the responsibility to fight for the maximum possible progressive revenues that we can achieve at the city level.
In that spirit, I would welcome any state measure that is able to increase progressive revenues to whatever amount.
We fight for every dollar that we can get and for every affordable home that we can build.
And House Bill 2907, while it is extremely inadequate, we welcome the possibility of $121 million being raised at the county level.
But I want to step back from those numbers for us to be much more conscious and understand the political calculus that is at play here.
In 2018, big business, including the richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos, went all out against our city to prevent having to pay, avoid having to pay even one dollar, even one single dollar of taxation.
They went to war against our city against having to pay even $1 in taxation.
Emboldened by the repeal, which shamefully many council members and the mayor engaged in, they went all out against progressive candidates, including myself last year, and they had hoped that they had in a permanent way defeated our movement.
That did not happen.
In fact, big business suffered an overwhelming and historic defeat at the hands of our grassroots movement.
So my question is, why is it that big business, which went all out to avoid having to pay even $1 in taxes, why would they be ready to pay anything close to $120 million, leaving aside the fact that it is extremely inadequate for our movement?
I want us to recognize that the only reason, the only reason, the sole reason that big business would enter into an agreement of any kind of taxation on themselves would be if they can get the real price that they want to have, which is this so-called preemption, which, in other words, is a statewide ban on cities like Seattle raising our own big business taxes to the level commensurate with our city's problems.
This is happening in the context of Washington State being the most regressive tax system in the country.
That is to say, out of 50 states in the U.S., our state comes 50th, dead last, in how much tax burden lands on ordinary people and small businesses, with the corporate elite enjoying a tax haven.
It is stunning in this context that Mayor Durkin and politicians at the state legislature are working in the back rooms with big business, plotting to take away the very few remaining progressive taxation tools that we have not already been blocked by the establishment in Olympia.
This has surfaced through the press reporting, and I thank the press for reporting on this, on House Bill 2907. And as I said, they call it preemption, which sounds neutral enough, but what it really is is an anti-democratic state ban on progressive taxation, an anti-democratic ban on taxing big business, right at the moment that the tax Amazon movement is organizing to finally make them pay their fair share.
And I think this is the bottom line, bottom line political calculus.
Because they lost overwhelmingly in last year's election, and because they know that there is tremendous momentum behind a movement to bring together either an ordinance or a ballot measure on taxing big business this year.
This is why we are seeing the conversation about a bill that will potentially raise a small amount and get the real price for big business, which is a ban on taxation.
This will be, if this ban goes through, it would be a historic attack on working people, demanding that they continue to foot the bill for everything, while the multi-millionaires and billionaires with their stock options and all their executive privileges continue to have their playground.
It is a disgraceful act by politicians, some of whom identify as progressive, to even talk about a preemption in the state with the nation's most regressive taxation, and to make it yet more regressive.
And let's also be clear, if a state ban is allowed to pass, it will be a ban not only on any ordinance or ballot measure this year in our city, it will be a state ban in perpetuity.
on our city's ability to pass any progressive taxation.
In other words, if we allow this preemption to go through, we are signing up for having a ban forever, and we refuse to sign up for this.
We need big business to pay, not working people, or ordinary homeowners, or small businesses.
That is why, alongside our grassroots movement, I am introducing a resolution against the proposed state ban on taxing big business at Monday's city council session.
It gives me no pleasure to say this, but I am deeply disappointed that even elected officials who are progressive have not actually stood out clearly against preemption and I still urge them to, I invite them to speak very clearly on preemption and join me in supporting this resolution.
I hope they change their mind.
I hope they recognize that this would be an attack on working people in perpetuity and it would be unconscionable.
I would also like to note for the press that Mayor Jenny Durkan whom I met with this week has been unwilling so far to speak out against the proposed state ban.
I asked her personally many times, will you speak out against the so-called preemption or the state ban, and I did not hear that she would.
I welcome the media to question her about it, and I welcome her to speak up against the ban.
I welcome her to join me in sponsoring this resolution that is coming up on Monday.
But right now, I am very afraid that she is apparently prepared to cooperate with this potentially anti-democratic attack against our city.
And that would be unconscionable for the executive of this city to do this.
And I know that some of my fellow speakers will be adding some of the action items that we have coming up in addition to the resolution.
So now I will invite John Manella from the Tenants Union to speak alongside us.
And after the speakers have spoken, of course, I'm happy to answer any questions from the media.
Thank You councilmember Sawant.
Hello everyone.
My name is John Manella and I am on the board of the Tenants Union of Washington.
We fully support progressive taxation to address the housing crisis.
Our housing crisis is a humanitarian disaster and all of us see it every day.
Tenants getting kicked out of their homes and people sleeping in the streets next to empty luxury apartment buildings.
We all see it every day.
Addressing our housing disaster is a top priority for our city.
Everyone now knows that addressing this crisis will take a massive investment of public funds into housing.
And that's why the Tenants Union of Washington fully endorses the movement to tax Amazon to build social housing as part of the Green New Deal.
and that's why we invite all of you the public and the media to the tax amazon action conference this sunday at noon at washington hall where we're along with hundreds of working people activists tenants and regular people are going to discuss legislation to get the progressive revenue we need and how to organize to fight for it we fully support progressive taxation legislation for too long renters and working people have paid the lion's share of taxes while big business and billionaires pay little or nothing in taxes.
And again, that's why the Tenants Union of Washington is strongly opposed to any form of preemption or anything at all that will prevent Seattle or other cities in Washington from using progressive revenue sources.
We thank Council Member Shama Sawant for presenting this resolution and for her office's leadership in the struggle to tax Amazon and big business to fund the social housing we need.
Our housing crisis is a humanitarian disaster.
Our best tool to address this disaster is progressive taxation.
Why would any lawmaker consider taking tools away from us?
We need more tools to fight this crisis, not less.
Again, the Tenants Union of Washington strongly opposes any attempts at letting business off the hook.
Thank you again to Council Member Sawant and her office for bringing this resolution forward, and we urge the rest of the Council to join her by supporting the resolution.
And we all hope to see all of you at the TaxAmazon Action Conference this Sunday at noon at Washington Hall.
Thank you.
Thanks to John and the Tenants Union, I would like to now invite the Reverend Angela Ying, Senior Pastor at the Bethany United Church of Christ.
Good morning.
I'm here this morning as a person of faith and also part of the wide faith communities because what we need in the city is love and courage.
Love and courage.
And the reason why is because we don't need preemption.
We need a progressive tax.
We need love to take care of our most vulnerable.
We need courage to make a difference in this amazing city.
And the thing is that when we love the poorest of the poor and also the wealthiest in this city, that means that we make the wealthiest person, Jeff Bezos and Amazon, accountable.
because it's about taking care of our neighbor.
It's about taking care of the most vulnerable.
And we already have a huge homeless crisis and a housing crisis.
And we need everything we can as a people so that we can have a progressive tax, that we can have a progressive revenue in this city so that all can rise and all can make a difference.
We don't need preemption.
We don't need a ban to pose a progressive tax.
We need accountability.
And when you love somebody, you make them accountable to pay their fair share.
You make them accountable to pay their fair share because the poor and the working class people are already taxed beyond what they can handle.
It's about time the billionaires and Amazon and Jeff Bezos pay their fair share.
And it's out of deep love that we make them accountable to do that.
Because then the city can solve not just 5% or 10% of our problem, but the entire problem as a whole, together as a people.
And we as people of faith will make sure and work with every state legislator, King County city legislator and leader that will stand with us to oppose a ban on progressive tax because we know we need progressive revenue to solve the housing crisis.
We need a progressive revenue.
We don't need to be the most regressive of 50 states.
In Seattle, we could have the legacy of bringing up social housing, of the Green New Deal, of raising revenue so that our people are not on the streets and the vulnerable, the most vulnerable in our city, in our county are taken care of.
So let's use love.
Let's be bold.
Let's have courage.
Let's oppose a preemption.
Let's make sure there's no ban ever on progressive tax and let's make sure as faith communities that we keep our legislators accountable doing the right thing and that Jeff Bezos, by the grace of God, will be taxed so that he can have humanity and he can join all of us in a legacy of social housing, Green New Deal, for children and children and children in our future because we need to work together for progressive revenue.
We need to work together to fix this housing crisis.
We need to work together as a person of faith with all others in order to make a difference because what we need is a progressive revenue in order to tax big business, De Pazo and Amazon because that's the revenue we can use to solve the problems, to raise and help the most vulnerable.
That's our calling and we will make sure the leaders do the right thing.
that we have elected and will elect.
And we will continue to elect those who will do the right thing because our calling is to take care of our neighbors and ourselves and to take care of the most vulnerable because then all rise in the end for our children and our children's children.
You know, even the urbanist newspaper, which is not a faith-based newspaper, has a similar message to the faith community because they also say it would be a travesty to cave to business leaders who want to prevent any new taxes on big business in Seattle.
So now I would like to invite Cathy Yasi, who's been a long-time activist and organizer in our city and is the executive vice president at SEIU 925 and will be speaking in personal capacity today.
Hello, good morning.
Yes, my name is Kathy Yazzie, and I am a Rankin file member of SEIU 925. I've been a child care provider in the Central District in Seattle for 20 years.
I've lived in the Central District for 30 years.
And I just want to say that this housing issue that we face right now has been a decades-long problem.
Neighbors have been forced out of my neighborhood.
Elderly people can no longer afford to live in their homes and family child care providers are being pushed out because we can't afford to live in the city where we work.
So I come today, first of all, I would like to thank Shama Sawant for this resolution to fight back and to have the largest corporations and Amazon pay their fair share.
And I also stand today to ask our state legislators, our city mayor, and the labor leaders in Seattle to please stand across our state to stand against the ban on pre-emption so that we can protect our ability to collect the taxes that we need to solve this housing crisis in our city.
I want my daughter to be able to live in the city when she comes back after school, after college, and I want people who have been pushed out to be able to afford to return to our central district and be able to live an affordable life.
I also want the climate protections that come with people living closer to their work.
So I want progressive taxes, and I want to protect our city's ability to do that.
Thanks.
And last but not least, we have Eva Metz, who's a rank-and-file organizer with Socialist Alternative, and has also been helping to lead the citywide tax Amazon movement.
Thank you.
So with House Bill 2907 and the outrageous efforts to push through a state ban on taxing big business, we can see that big business is terrified.
Amazon, Microsoft, the Chamber of Commerce, they're all terrified after last fall's election, which served as a repudiation of the corporate attempt to take over our elections and to protect their corporate tax haven.
And on the heels of the powerful grassroots momentum to tax Amazon and big business, to fund social housing and Green New Deal on a scale that actually matches the seriousness of the crisis, the political establishment and big business are pushing their new bill in Olympia, House Bill 2907, as an alternative in an attempt to undermine our movement.
They're scared because they know that when we fight, we can win.
And they're scared because they know that a victory here in Seattle could inspire working people across the country.
If passed, a state ban would shamefully block people in Seattle and other cities from raising the progressive funding that we so desperately need now and in the future.
It would be a major attack on working people and on our democratic rights, and it would cause lasting damage, and it would make our state, which already has the nation's most regressive tax system, even more regressive.
We need to fight back, and we will.
We need to stand up to any effort from the state legislature, the mayor, or county officials to prevent Seattle from taxing big businesses to address the affordable housing crisis.
And we need to build the strongest possible movement to win a strong Amazon tax here in Seattle.
So thank you to Council Member Shama Sawant for bringing this resolution forward and using your seat to help lead this struggle.
Thank you to all the organizations and the unions that are involved in this fight.
And I think most importantly, thank you to the hundreds of working people who have already gotten active in the tax Amazon struggle.
Seattle City Council members, a majority of whom were elected against Amazon's efforts to buy the election, state representatives, especially those from Seattle, and King County Council members should come out clearly against any effort to ban progressive taxation.
We will continue building the strongest movement to stand up against this corporate attack, to stop the state ban, and to fight to tax Amazon in 2020. And next week, we will be taking our movement to Olympia to protest and to occupy state legislators' offices to demand no anti-democratic ban on taxing big business.
Thank you.
Thank you, Eva, and the media are welcome to ask any questions of me or any of the other speakers.
Council Member, the crisis of homelessness is so urgent.
Are you truly willing to reject $121 million if it comes with preemption?
We're not rejecting the $121 million, we're rejecting the preemption.
And I would appreciate the media making a clear distinction between the two, because $121 million at the county level is something that would benefit our county's ordinary people.
A preemption would be a permanent damage to the interests of working people.
So the two are entirely opposite.
And it's important to recognize that the only reason big business may be, quote unquote, at the table is because they want the preemption.
And if they are willing to take on $121 million in taxation, it's only because in their minds, given the momentum for our movement, it's a smaller concession than having to make a larger concession commensurate with the needs of our society, even The McKenzie study sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce, it's not a socialist study, it's not a socialist analysis.
Even they said that if you're actually going to solve our county's problems, then we need new progressive revenues to the tune of $450 billion, $1 million, $2 billion every year for at least 10 years.
If the preemption and the money come in the same package, would you reject the package?
I think we have to fight absolutely at every inch that we have to prevent the preemption.
What we want is those $121 million at the county level, plus what we can raise through an ordinance or a ballot measure at the city level, because $121 million is not enough.
And this is a false choice.
that politicians are presenting to us and I refuse to accept a false choice as a real choice.
Let's be very clear.
This is not a real choice.
This is a false choice.
We are not in a universe where the state legislature is telling us that we are going to use every tool in our state's toolbox to completely turn around the problems that we are having in our city and we're going to preempt states, cities from passing taxes.
That is not the universe we're talking about.
So I would appreciate if we talk about the universe that we're actually talking about.
Thank you.