Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, sends along an e-mail alert noting that Washington state ranks eighth-highest in the nation when it comes to the tax burden on its citizens.

It starts: "The nonpartisan Tax Foundation has released its “Tax Freedom Day” report, an annual account of how many days Americans must work each year to pay their federal, state and local taxes. Tax Freedom Day, dubbed as such because it’s the day when citizens have finally earned enough to pay all of their taxes for the year, will come on May 6 for Washington citizens – the eighth latest in the nation."

Here's the Tax Foundation document showing that.

Problem is, it includes federal taxes, which the Legislature has no control over. Here's a chart from the same group that just focuses on state and local taxes. Washington is 16th, not 8th. That's a much better state-to-state comparison measure.

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