OLYMPIA…Majority Democrats in Olympia today dropped a bill to impose an income tax in Washington state, ignoring that the people of Washington have rejected similar unconstitutional income taxes 10 times. Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, and House Republican Leader Drew Stokesbary, R-Auburn, shared the following reactions to Senate Bill 6346.
Sen. John Braun:
“This income-tax proposal has been a long time in the making. Majority Democrats have pushed for it for years. They know it is unconstitutional, yet they are determined to pass it and rush it before the Washington State Supreme Court, hoping liberal justices will overturn the long-standing classification of income as property. Democrats claim the tax would apply only to persons earning more than $1 million a year. What they don’t say is that it would hit small businesses — hard. It also punishes married couples by taxing their combined income at the same rate as that of individuals. Democrats justify this by arguing that our tax code is regressive, but this proposal doesn’t repeal any regressive taxes. They simply want more money. It’s never enough.”
Rep. Drew Stokesbary:
“Republicans are united against any income tax because we know that eventually an income tax on anyone will turn into an income tax on everyone. If Democrats were truly interested in making our tax code less regressive, they would focus on lowering taxes for the people who can afford them the least.”
Summary of the income-tax:
- Levies a 9.9% rate on individuals with Washington taxable income over $1 million, which also captures many small businesses.
- Also applies to married couples who earn $1 million combined — not $1 million each.
- Projected to raise $4 billion per year.
- Amends the I-2111 law passed in Olympia in 2024 (Prohibition on Income Tax) to say the state income-tax prohibition does not apply to this act.
- Applies to income from public pensions (current law prohibits state and local taxation of such funds.)
- Begins in January 2028.
Democrats are expected to push it through to Gov. Bob Ferguson quickly.