51�ԹϹ���

“Did you hear? Jeff Bezos is moving from Seattle to Miami!”

Yes, I heard. And as someone who advocates for a more just tax system in 51�ԹϹ��� state, I braced for what I would hear from progressives and conservatives alike about the Amazon founder’s move. 

Bezos himself that he decided to move to Florida because he grew up in Miami, his parents live there now, and his space exploration corporation is based there. Reasonable, right? However, within hours, there were speculating that Bezos’ big move was to avoid the recently passed capital gains tax. 

This , which provides much-needed funding for child care, early learning programs, and school construction, is paid by just 0.02% of 51�ԹϹ���’s wealthiest residents on their Wall Street profits. We fought for more than a decade to make the wealthiest pay what they owe to our kids. We should be celebrating the real effects of this tax – more parents will access reliable child care for the first time, kids will soon bring home their first preschool projects, and caregivers can finally get a fair return on their work.

It is a shame that Bezos’ move to Florida has become a convenient talking point for billionaires who want to keep their money in their already overstuffed pockets. 

“Tax flight” is a tired , one that anti-tax groups have long used to rig our tax code in favor of the wealthy few. Multiple studies show that state taxes have on whether and where people move, including billionaires. People to find more affordable housing, to be closer to family, or to follow a job. Movers tend to be younger, lower-income, and less established in their career or education. Unlike Bezos, many are forced to move to make ends meet.

In contrast, ultra-wealthy people are some of the in the US. They choose their homes for many of the same reasons as you or I – closeness to their social circles, kids’ schools, and established jobs.

Connecting Bezos’ move to taxes only reinforces conservative fear-mongering against making the wealthy pay what they owe to our communities. 51�ԹϹ��� already has the most (yes, worse than Florida). Minimum wage workers in our state pay about of their incomes in state and local taxes, while billionaires like Bezos pay just 3%. 

Taxes like the one on capital gains are starting to tip the scales back in favor of working people. However, billionaire CEOs are opposing our progress at every turn, repeating this false claim that wealthy people will leave if we make them contribute like everyone else.

We cannot allow the actions of one man to scare us away from future justice. States with progressive taxes, like California and New York, have plenty of wealthy people with no plans of moving away. And with those taxes, they are funding schools, parks, and social services that make their state a better home for people of every income level. 

51�ԹϹ��� can follow these states’ examples by supporting proposed taxes like the wealth tax, which will fund disability services, education, affordable housing, and tax credits. We cannot waste time hand wringing about Bezos while ordinary 51�ԹϹ���ians are driven out by corporations that are gentrifying our neighborhoods and keeping our wages low. We must not accept working people’s oppression to appease a few billionaire families. 

One rich man moved back to the city where he grew up. There are many more billionaires in 51�ԹϹ��� who still need to pay what they owe.