SEATTLE, WA — The Lynnwood Times published an in-depth look at our campaign to repeal Washington’s new statewide income tax in November. This tax is not for the wealthy, despite what lawmakers in Olympia want you to think. It has been designed so it can be expanded to all income levels in the state.

Excerpts and highlights below:

Growing voter opposition to the tax

…early polling showed about two-thirds of Washingtonians oppose an income tax and that the campaign’s job is to make sure they “VOTE YES.” The campaign website shares a survey, conducted by Cygnal for the Concerned Taxpayers Accountability Center of 800 likely general election voters that 67% oppose implementing a state tax in Washington state and 57% of voters believe the tax will eventually hit their pocketbooks.

A pattern of broken promises from Olympia’s leadership

…in January of 2025, Gov. Ferguson at his inauguration pledged that “the era of assuming unrealistic revenue growth is over,” then later that same year signed an $80 billion budget built on income-tax revenue that does not arrive until 2029—fueling speculations that the income tax will expand to all income levels.

Sen. Jamie Pedersen, one of the prime architects of the income tax, once promised to ban an income tax and then later calling that a “pie crust promise…easily made, easily broken.”

During a Senate hearing on the bill enacting the statewide income tax, Senator Pedersen revealed that although SB-6346 targets only individuals with at least $1 million in annual income, no current law can permanently bind future legislatures should a future legislature expand the tax to other income brackets.

Former Democratic Governors sounding the alarm

Former Democrat Governor Christine Gregoire told an Association of Washington Business audience on May 14, 2026: “We don’t have an income problem; we have a spending problem. I left office with a $33 billion budget. Today it’s $80 billion.”

Former Governor Gary Locke, also a Democrat, has raised questions about long-term accountability for how new revenue from the multibillion-dollar statewide income tax would be spent.

Read the full story here: https://lynnwoodtimes.com/2026/08/26/vote-yes-2/