OLYMPIA, Wash.—Rejecting scores of Republican poison pill amendments, the Washington State House of Representatives on March 11 approved by a 51 to 46 vote a “millionaires tax” of 9.9% on annual income over $1 million. The Senate had approved the measure March 10 by a vote of 27 to 21. It is now on Gov. Bob Ferguson’s desk, and he has promised to sign it into law.
The governor had expressed unhappiness with the Senate-approved version, arguing that it fails to earmark enough in funding for state programs that serve low-income families, children, and small businesses.
But April Berg, an African American legislator from Legislative District 44 northeast of Seattle, pushed through a massive re-write of the 107-page bill, including an amendment that 5% of the revenues will be earmarked for the Fair Start for Kids Act. Ferguson hailed the amendment and vowed to sign the bill he called “historic.”
The wealth tax is a victory for labor and the grassroots movement that has sprung up in the Evergreen State outraged by billionaires like Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Microsoft’s Bill Gates, who reap billions in untaxed profits each year since Washington lacks a graduated state income tax.
Relying solely on a regressive 8%-plus sales tax and property taxes, Washington State struggles with multi-billion-dollar deficits in covering public services like public education, health care, and transportation.
The Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, hailed passage of the tax, posting on its Facebook page in banner-sized letters, “Thank You!” An AFL-CIO statement declared, “Special thanks for Speaker Laurie Jinkins for navigating the (Democratic) caucus through the longest floor debate in state history—over 24 hours.”
In their drive to block the measure in both houses, the Republicans offered more than 60 poison pill amendments scheming to stall passage during this “short session” of the legislature—only 60 days instead of 90. But Speaker Jinkins and the Democratic lawmakers refused to yield, voting down one killer amendment after another for a full 24 hours.
Jinkins said of the millionaire tax bill: “Our 90-year-old tax code simply cannot meet the needs of our state.” The Washington State tax code, she added, “asks low-income Washingtonians to pay nearly four times more in taxes than the wealthiest among us relative to income. We need to do better.”
The millionaire tax applies to only about 20,000 or 30,000 wealthy Washingtonians and is expected to generate an estimated $3.5 billion to $4 billion in new revenues annually. It grants the wealthy exemptions for houses, investments, and personal property. It goes into effect Jan. 1, 2028.
During Senate debate, several Democratic women senators argued that the wealth tax is urgently needed to replace funds for Medicaid and SNAP nutrition benefits stripped from the federal budget by President Trump’s “Big Beautiful” bill, the trillion-dollar cut given to the rich. A Republican senator called these lawmakers on a “point-of-order” to terminate any references to Trump.
The Republican efforts to block the wealth tax instigated a flood of vicious phone calls and email attacks from MAGA extremists targeting the House Democratic Caucus. The email and phone messages directed at them included hateful language, racial epithets and slurs, threats and intimidation.
The lawmakers have expressed concerns for the safety of family members, staff, and themselves, with some taking precautions that would normally not be necessary for those simply carrying out the duties of their public office.
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