(Olympia, WA) A 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
On the list
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.”
‘Frame’s viewpoint’
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.
This story first appeared on Washington State Standard.
