Panelists at the annual Roanoke Conference discussed how they would push against a hypothetical income tax proposal Saturday.

Gov. Jay Inslee and Democratic lawmakers have proposed using a capital gains tax to help fund education during the 2017 session. Lawmakers are working to find a solution to fund education, pressed under the McCleary Decision that compels state lawmakers to fully fund education before 2018. Inslee’s proposal would use an increase on the Business and Occupation tax, a new capital gains tax and a new carbon tax to increase revenue and fill in education gaps. Republican lawmakers have opted for a different approach: focusing on restructuring the property tax.

Panelists at the conference said they believed a capital gains tax would be a step toward introducing income tax to the state.

“There does seem to be a constant effort to raise taxes and unfortunately that’s the nature of the beast,” said Tim Eyman, a conservative Washington advocate and panelist.

Rep. Drew Stokesbary, R-Auburn, argued that Democratic leadership would be out of sync with their voter base if they began calling for an income tax.

“There is a big disconnect between Democratic political leadership and rank-and-file Democratic voters,” he said.

Democrats haven’t proposed any legislation that would impose an income tax, even if it is written into the state party’s 2016 platform.

Sen. Phil Fortunato, R-Auburn, proposed Senate Joint Resolution 8204 that would ask voters to decide whether to put an income tax ban into the state’s constitution.

“I think his Constitutional amendment could do a really good job of smoking out Democrats,” said Eyman.

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