Is a capital gains tax coming to Seattle?: Today So Far

• Some Seattle leaders are considering a capital gains tax for the city.
• We need to find something to do with all these green crabs showing up in the Northwest.
• Washington state is stockpiling doses of the abortion drug mifepristone.

This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for April 5, 2023.

Seattle is looking at starting up its own capital gains tax.

Last month, Washington's Supreme Court concluded that the state's new capital gains tax was A-OK (long story short, the court said that it's an excise tax, not an income tax, which is not allowed under state law). It didn't take long, like a week and a half, for Seattle leaders to start planning for their own capital gains tax. KUOW's David Hyde consulted some experts, who say that capital gains taxes at the local level are now entirely possible, so something like this was inevitable following the court's ruling.

“I think that the court ruling reaffirms what many of us already knew, which is that capital gains should be considered a viable option at the state or local levels,” Seattle Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda told KUOW.

It's unclear exactly how this tax is going to influence Washingtonians. Only time will tell. The state's capital gains tax is targeted. It only hits profits on the sales of stocks and bonds exceeding $250,000. It doesn't kick in for real estate sales or retirement accounts. So the pool of people this affects is small. The tax is expected to produce $500 million annually. Still, one financial company has already opted to move its headquarters out of Washington as a result of the tax. Startup leaders told GeekWire that this will have ramifications on Washington's startup scene, specifically whether companies will choose to come to, or expand, in the area. Stocks can be a form of compensation for such companies. Others in the scene say it won't scare off too many folks. GeekWire also reports that existing data indicates wealthy people don't seem to move based on taxes.

What is certain: Seattle is slated to come up about $200 million short each year, starting in 2025. A new, local capital gains tax is likely to be part of a package to address that shortfall. Read more here.

We need to find something to do with all these green crabs showing up in the Northwest. Shellfish growers are calling for a "blitz" to knock down their population. Over on the Long Beach Peninsula, around Willapa Bay, folks have been farming oysters and clams for years. About 70% of the state's oyster harvest comes from this one area. The invasive green crabs knock down these local populations, which is bad for the growers, and bad for seafood menus. Green crabs basically take everything, because they're very shellfish.

"They'll eat all the shellfish if they get established, then move on to everything else that they can eat. All the habitat – the eelgrass which is so important, they even take that out eventually," Willapa Bay Shellfish owner Warren Cowell told Northwest News Network. "So, what's at stake here is Willapa Bay as a whole, the whole ecosystem and everything that it contributes."

People like Cowell are now setting crab traps, aggressively, to "hold the line." They're taking in as many green crabs as they can catch. We could eat the green crabs, but they're not as easy to dish up as other varieties. There has also been talk of using them as fertilizer. A Bellingham company can turn the shells into textiles and other products, but it only uses the shells, not the rest of the crab. Some people have even tried turning them into whiskey. Maybe this is an "all of the above" type situation. Perhaps a new green crab industry is on the horizon, producing fertilizer, compost, booze, textiles, and more. If any of our region's entrepreneurial minds want to make a buck, I'd point you in this direction. Read more here.

Washington state is stockpiling doses of the abortion drug mifepristone. The move comes as a federal judge in Texas is expected to make a ruling that could limit supply of the drug nationally, potentially making it as difficult to obtain as it is to say the word "mifepristone."

Washington has a plan to counter the decision, but the way the state is going about it is a bit odd. Washington's Department of Corrections has a pharmacy license, which allows it to purchase and store drugs. The DOC is getting 30,000 doses of mifepristone, and lawmakers in Olympia are pushing through a bill that would allow the department to distribute the drug to health care facilities around the state. On top of that, the University of Washington is getting 10,000 doses of its own. Gov. Jay Inslee says this will give the state a four-year supply. Read more here.

AS SEEN ON KUOW

Francis Zuber (right) happened upon Ian Steger (left) buried in the snow on Mt. Baker. He was just in time to save the snowboarder's life, who was buried in six feet of snow. "The scariest thing about this whole incident is that Ian is very experienced. He was with a group of friends that were also very experienced, had all the proper gear, they were in communication with each other. And this still happened." (Courtesy of Ian Steger)

DID YOU KNOW?

There is one telescope on our planet that more people have looked through than any other. It's in California. The massive telescope at the Griffith Observatory on Mount Hollywood was installed in 1935. Since then, more than 7 million people have looked through it.

The Griffith Observatory began as a mere dream for Griffith J. Griffith (yep, first name was the same as his last) in 1896. He had an opportunity to look through another massive telescope of his day, peering at the moon and stars. He felt that if others saw what he did, the world would be changed for the better. So he donated more than 4,000 acres to the city of Los Angeles with the purpose of creating a park and observatory that would be free to everyone. The heart of this park is the observatory, which not only features a telescope, but a planetarium, access to a range of educational wonders, a Tesla Coil, and a pretty awesome cafe. Seriously, the cafe is as classy as the hot bar at Whole Foods.

The observatory, and surrounding park, have been featured in a range of films and TV shows that you are likely familiar with. You probably didn't know what you were looking at, however. Aside from "Rebel Without a Cause," which showed the observatory for what it was, the area has been used in "Back to the Future" parts one and two, "MacGyver," "Star Trek: Voyager," "La La Land," "The Terminator," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and even "The Simpsons," to name just a few.

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