Through my six years and two deployments with the U.S. Navy, I was taught to live according to a strict set of values. For me, it started the first day of bootcamp, as the words honor, courage, and commitment were drilled into our psyches, and the concept that we would never leave a shipmate behind became sacred. Although I did not always live up to those high ideals as a younger man, I know what it feels like to get it right, and to truly live by one’s values.

Here in Washington state though, we have the most upside down tax code in the nation – and we are failing to live according to our most cherished values. Our schools are chronically underfunded, our bridges and roads are literally collapsing beneath us, and too many in our communities suffer without access to necessary services. Moreover, our fellow Washingtonians who earn less than $20,000 per year pay taxes at a rate of up to seven times more than those making over $500,000. This is not the ideal and brave America that I fought for, and for which some of my brothers gave their all.

In the military, we cannot have a highly trained and competent force prepared to tackle the most difficult global challenges without investing in years of training, and in Washington state, we cannot expect to tackle future problems without investing in our collective future. We can have great schools and communities only if we can clean up our state’s tax code.

One way to get this done is through closing the loophole on capital gains, which are profits on the sales of stocks and bonds, for the wealthiest among us. We are one of only eight states that has this loophole, and that’s because powerful special interests have manipulated the tax code by inserting tax breaks and special deals that benefit themselves.

Another option is to institute a tax on carbon. Not only would a carbon tax help to fund this state’s future through strengthening K-12 education, it would be a way for Washingtonians to do our part to bolster our nation’s security through reducing dependence on carbon from potentially hostile foreign regimes that do not always have our best interest at heart. We also want to ensure that lower-income families receive an off-setting carbon tax credit so that we do not put an undue burden on those who can least afford it.

During my time in the Navy, I was blessed to serve on teams that thrived in the most challenging of environments because we knew how to sacrifice together in the short term for our greater long term benefit and survival. Now is the time to come together and pass common sense tax reform so that we can fully fund our schools and roads. Fixing our regressive tax system is not beyond our abilities. We have proven time and again that we can solve difficult challenges, we just need to give our elected officials the political space to do the right thing.

Living according to our values will make our state stronger. We can do this, and we must not wait any longer.

Ben Wiselogle

Bothell