Voters are deciding on three statewide ballot initiatives backed by the conservative political action committee Let’s Go Washington.
KNKX is covering a selection of races across Western Washington this election. These results will be updated after 8 p.m. on Nov. 3.
Initiative 645
Passage of Initiative No. IP26-645 would repeal Washington state’s tax on high earners, called the “millionaires tax.”
The “millionaires tax” passed the state Legislature and was signed into law in March by Gov. Bob Ferguson. It is set to take effect in 2028, with the state collecting the first tax payments in 2029. Under the law, income above $1 million will be taxed at 9.9%. That means someone who makes $1.5 million would be taxed at that rate on $500,000, which comes to $49,500.
The state Office of Financial Management has estimated it will collect more than $11 billion over its first three years, which includes $3 billion in the first year.
Let's Go Washington collected more than 500,000 voter signatures to get the initiative to repeal the income tax on the ballot.
The measure’s proponents argued that a majority of voters would reject the high-earner tax, as they have historically rejected or prevented income-based tax proposals. They urged voters to reject this tax in order to send a message that any income tax is unwelcome. During the campaign, supporters argued that an income-based tax could be amended to eventually hit those with lower incomes.
Ferguson said he would veto any legislation that would lower the limit, and “millionaires tax architect, Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen, a Democrat who represents part of Seattle, said such bills would not be viable. Still, at least one Democrat has shared an interest in taxing people at lower income limits, including those earning $250,000 annually.
Opponents of the measure included several labor unions, including the Washington Education Association, which represents teachers in the state, and the Washington Federation of State Employees, among others. Those organizations centered their campaign messages on the estimated amount of money that would be lost in the coming years.
The state is facing significant budget shortfalls for the current biennium, which ends in 2027, and subsequent bienniums, according to the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council. The Washington State Standard reported in September that the anticipated deficit for 2027-2029 is several hundred million dollars.
Initiative 001
Initiative No. IL26-001 would reinstate the 2024 version of the state’s Parents’ Bill of Rights. This would expand the list of documents parents can request, to include records such as health and counseling files.
Proponents of the initiative said schools should not be able to withhold information from parents and legal guardians. Critics feared the ballot measure would discourage at-risk students from seeking out behavioral health services, weaken protections for victims of abuse and force educators to out LGBTQ+ students.
Let’s Go Washington pursued I-001 in response to state lawmakers amending the Parents’ Bill of Rights last year. After surviving a legal challenge in 2025, the law was amended by state legislators to align it with other existing laws. These changes included removing references to medical and mental health counseling records.
Let’s Go Washington claims on its website these revisions “stripped the right of parents to be informed about their children’s health care decisions.” According to the Washington state Office of the Attorney General’s summary of I-001, the proposal reiterates a number of rights parents and legal guardians already have under state and federal law. But it would expand what the current Parents’ Bill of Rights defines as education records to include medical information, mental health counseling documents and other student files.
If passed, the ballot measure would decrease the amount of time administrators have to provide documents to parents to 10 days, down from the 45 days required by the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act. A large coalition of educators, mental health professionals and state officials opposed I-001 under the banner of No Hate in WA State. That included groups such as The Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault and the Washington State Nurses Association.
“I-001 restricts student access to help for challenges like depression, sexual assault, domestic violence, bullying, and anxiety,” No Hate in WA State stated on its website. “While most parents are loving and supportive, the sad reality is not all kids are safe at home.”
Critics claim the initiative was badly written, which could delay schools notifying parents when a crime is believed to have been committed against their child. They also fear I-001 was written in a way that would allow parents accused of a crime against their child to access sensitive documents.
Initiative 638
Initiative No. IL26-638 would ban transgender girls from participating in girls’ school sports and would require healthcare providers to verify the children’s biological sex.
This initiative would require all girls who want to compete in girls school sports regulated by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association to undergo medical testing to determine their birth sex. This could be done either through a genital exam, a hormone test for testosterone levels or a chromosome test.
Those who support this initiative say that a ban is necessary to protect fairness and competition in girls sports. They claim that allowing students who were assigned male at birth to compete against students assigned female at birth is unfair — and that they have more physical advantages that can help them become faster and stronger than women.
Opponents of the initiative say it will marginalize transgender students and that it will require all girls across Washington state looking to play school sports to undergo unnecessary medical testing. They also worry that the increased amount of testing for girls in particular will discourage girls from participating in sports.
For nearly 20 years, Washington has not had any restrictions on students participating in sports. Current state policy allows students to participate in whatever sport best aligns with their gender identity, without additional proof.
See all election results on the Washington Secretary of State's website.
