Funding for higher education relies too heavily on sales tax

As a student at the University of Washington who has seen steep tuition increases the past few years, I was pleased to read that state Sen. Ed Murray is proposing a state capital-gains tax [“State Sen. Murray calls for tax on capital gains,” NWSaturday, Jan. 26].

State funding to the UW has been cut in half over the past three years, largely because of our state’s over-reliance on the sales tax, which is both volatile and regressive. A modest capital-gains tax is a sensible way to restore funding for both K-12 and higher education, while making our tax system more fair.

As it is now, the people with fewer resources pay the highest proportion of their income in taxes. This is wrong.

--Melanie Mayock, Seattle