Washington state hasn’t really had an income tax for nearly a century, but that might be about to change.
Gov. Bob Ferguson speaks about the financial fallout from tariffs at the Northwest Harvest food bank in Seattle.
Monica Nickelsburg / KUOW
Since Donald Trump’s reelection and tax cuts in the so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill” this year, momentum has been building on the left around a so-called “millionaires’ tax:” a tax on incomes over $1 million.
On Tuesday, Gov. Bob Ferguson said he wants to see such a proposal next month and would work with Democrats to make sure it passes.
At a budget meeting where the governor unveiled his operating budget for next year — with about $800 million in cuts that critics on the left are already calling an “austerity budget” — Ferguson said low-income individuals pay far too much in taxes as a percentage of their incomes in Washington state.
“We are facing an affordability crisis. It is time to change our upside-down tax system,” Gov. Ferguson said. “To rebalance this unfair system, I support a millionaires’ tax. Let’s make this historic change in this upcoming legislative session.”
It’s a shift for Ferguson, who has discouraged the idea of propping up the state’s unstable tax structure by inserting more taxes on the wealthy — even promising to veto budgets relying on such taxes. But he did sign a high number of tax hikes on a range of products and services into law earlier this year.
“Nothing’s changed,” Ferguson said. “This budget is balanced without taxes. But we need to look to the future...I do think that it’s a different time right now.”
Republicans in the legislature vehemently criticized Ferguson’s comments Tuesday.
“Washington doesn’t have an income tax because voters rejected it repeatedly. Calling it a ‘millionaires’ tax’ doesn’t change what it is,” said State Rep. Travis Couture, the Republicans’ budget lead in the state House.
“Once the door is opened, the definition of ‘millionaire’ always shrinks,” Couture continued. ”That’s why people don’t trust this. When a budget drains reserves, raids school accounts, and still doesn’t balance, proposing a new income tax just confirms the Democrats’ plan isn’t serious.”
Ferguson took pains Tuesday to make it clear that a “millionaires’ tax,” even if passed next year, likely would see a challenge from the courts and have to go before the voters — so any money raised by it likely wouldn’t come into state coffers until 2029. Ferguson said the proposal he supports would tax incomes over a million at nearly 10%.
Democrats flip on income taxes
A state income tax has been regarded as a total non-starter in Washington politics for years.
In 2010, a proposal on incomes over $200,000 for individuals went down in flames with 64% voting against. Even two years ago, Democrats seemed scared of losing that fight, passing a ban on income tax into law rather than let Republicans take it to the voters.
But then in 2024, a capital gains tax on rich Washingtonians stood up to challengers who called it a “backdoor income tax.” In the November 2025 elections, Democrats who voted for tax hikes sailed to victory despite business spending and attacks from both Republicans and even moderate Democrats.
Last week, State Sen. Jamie Pedersen, the Democrats’ majority leader, told KUOW’s Sound Politics that reversing their 2024 decision to ban income taxes wouldn’t be hard.
“That was — what did Mary Poppins call that? — a ‘pie crust promise.’ Easily made, easily broken. We put that language into statute, and we can amend it any time we want to,” Pedersen said. “I wouldn’t take that super-seriously.”
Washington State Republican Party chairman Jim Walsh called the Democrats’ proposal “a joke” and “patently unconstitutional.”
“If Ferguson signs this nonsense into statute, there will be lawsuits. Then, Ferguson and his comrades will try to convince the WA State Supreme Court to rule against our state’s longstanding tradition that income is property,” Walsh said in an email. “The current governor seems blinded by desperration [sic] and arrogance to imagine his proposed scheme will stand up to rational judicial scrutiny.”
Scott Greenstone is a reporter with KUOW. This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
It is part of OPB’s broader effort to ensure that everyone in our region has access to quality journalism that informs, entertains and enriches their lives. To learn more, visit our journalism partnerships page.
