A state legislative effort Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant derisively referred to as the Protect Bezos Act has died in the 2020 session’s legislative process in Olympia.

HB 2948 couldn’t find the needed support and didn’t make it out of the House Committee on Finance. 43rd District Rep. Nicole Macri co-sponsored the proposal that would have allowed King County to institute a tax on businesses to pay for homelessness and housing. The 0.1% to 0.2% tax on the payrolls of large employers would have generated around $121 million per year in Seattle.

Tech companies including Amazon and Microsoft were reportedly reluctant to support a bill without restrictions preempting cities from passing their own taxes on businesses to pay for housing and homelessness.

The inaction in Olympia will remove one obstacle for Seattle District 3’s Sawant and her District 2 colleague Tammy Morales who are leading a push at City Hall for a payroll tax on the city’s largest 3% of businesses that proponents say would raise $300 million annually to help fund homelessness services and housing.

While the next stages of the so-called fight to “Tax Amazon” will take place in council chambers, advocates for the tax have threatened taking the cause to the city’s voters if necessary.

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