An initiative to repeal Washington state’s so-called “millionaires tax” will officially appear on the November ballot.
The effort has been led by hedge fund founder Brian Heywood and his conservative interest group Let’s Go Washington. The group gathered over 500,000 signatures to put the repeal question before voters this fall. The Washington Secretary of State’s office, which verified the signatures, said over 82% were valid.
“We are proud to lead the fight to protect families and small businesses from Olympia expanding their state income tax on all Washingtonians,” Heywood wrote in a statement, echoing Republican concerns that the income tax on high earners could eventually be expanded to lower income brackets.
The Democrat-backed income tax is the first of its kind in the state. It would levy a 10% tax on household incomes over a million dollars a year. If the measure survives this ballot challenge — and a court fight that will play out over the next year — the state would begin collecting revenue from the tax in 2029. That money would go toward supporting state services like education, as well as some sales tax breaks.
Proponents of the tax — including union leaders and Gov. Bob Ferguson, a Democrat — anticipated that the repeal effort would make it to the ballot. On Tuesday, they launched a campaign to save the tax.
“It's a choice between investing in our kids' education and child care access and affordability, or going backwards with cuts to education and limiting access to child care,” Ferguson said. “In short, it's a choice between the future and the past.”
