Washington law has long contained protections for benefits paid through public retirement systems covering teachers, firefighters, law-enforcement officers, judges, State Patrol employees, and other public workers.

Senate Bill 6346 amended those pension statutes. The Legislature’s own final bill report states that “various pension statutes are modified to specify that pension income is not exempt from the new tax.” In other words, lawmakers expressly clarified that the protections contained in those pension statutes do not create a separate exemption from the new Washington income tax.

The issue was directly debated during consideration of the bill. House Amendment 2566 would have excluded public pensions from income subject to the tax. The amendment was not adopted on March 9, 2026.

The legislative record is clear. Under the new income tax law, public pension income no longer receives a separate categorical exemption, and lawmakers considered and rejected an amendment that would have provided one.