When I hear people argue against state revenue increases such as the proposed state capital gains tax by stating that they are too much of an increase or an unnecessary increase, it occurs to me that these people are starting in the middle of the conversation.
It would be helpful if they would start at the beginning of the conversation by explaining what they think our state government should be paying for and how much they think those responsibilities would cost if fully funded. Simply pointing out that current anticipated revenues are larger than expected or larger than in the past is unhelpful if that information is not accompanied by specific numbers about how much revenue is needed in the first place. By the way, state-level elected officials could look to the city of Vancouver’s “A Stronger Vancouver” for exactly this type of “beginning of the conversation” process.
