Why Washington Shouldn’t Trust Olympia with an Income Tax
Washington lawmakers aren’t finished reaching into your wallet — and Gov. Bob Ferguson is no longer pretending otherwise.
Recent reporting from [un]Divided’s Brandi Kruse brought renewed attention to Democrats’s long-standing support for a state income tax, cutting through years of alternating between denials to warm embracefrom Olympia’s political leadership. While income taxes have repeatedly been rejected by Washington voters, as well as ruled unconstitutional by Washington’s Supreme Court, now even Governor Bob Ferguson has made clear he views such a tax as both viable and necessary — even as residents are still absorbing last year’s largest tax increase in state history.
Every Washington taxpayer should watch this video:
This is just months after lawmakers approved a $12.5 billion package of new taxes. Supporters insist this new push would only affect high earners, but history — and basic political reality — suggests otherwise. Once income is taxed at any level, the pressure to expand the base and raise rates becomes inevitable.
That reality is why Washingtonians have rejected an income tax more than ten times, across generations and political climates. Voters understand that today’s “tax on the wealthy” quickly becomes tomorrow’s burden on working families, small businesses, and the middle class. One Democratic legislator admitted to this during a video preview of the upcoming session, confirming just that.
What makes Ferguson’s timing especially troubling is the broader context in which this push is happening. Our state government is facing serious questions about oversight and accountability following revelations involving fraudulent Somali-run daycare centers that allegedly received millions in taxpayer funding while providing little or no actual care. Similar failures in Minnesota have already produced major political consequences, and reporting suggests Washington’s exposure may be only beginning to come into focus.
This comes after stories from Brandi Kruse and The Center Square that highlighted major issues within the covenant homeownership program and its Urban League gatekeepers. The issues still are unresolved months after being surface.
And just this week, the signature environmental program of the Inslee administration — the Climate Commitment Act — was exposed as falling woefully short of promised results. CO₂ reduction studies published by the Departments of Ecology and Commerce wildly overstated its benefits, by as much as 9,500%. Yes, you read that right.
Against that backdrop, the idea of asking taxpayers for even more money is unconscionable.
Earlier this year, lawmakers assured the public that historic tax hikes — including increases on property, fuel, and business taxes — would stabilize the state’s finances. Instead, those revenues are already falling short of projections by hundreds of millions of dollars. Rather than pause and reassess, Olympia’s response appears to be doubling down on the same approach: raise taxes first, don’t address spending or results, and ask questions later.
To underscore that these leaders can’t be trusted, it’s less than two years since this legislature passed an initiative from the people banning an income tax at the state, county, or local level. However, the Senate Majority Leader now dismisses that ratification of the people’s will as a Mary Poppins, pie-crust promise, “Easily made, easily broken” during a KUOW interview.
And this week, State Rep. Larry Springer — a Democrat — acknowledged that lawmakers cannot be trusted when they claim an income tax on millionaires won’t eventually impact everyone.
Washington doesn’t have a revenue problem. It has a spending and accountability problem.
State spending has more than doubled in just the past decade, growing from roughly $34 billion to more than $70 billion. Washington now ranks near the bottom nationally for tax competitiveness, while families already shoulder some of the highest sales, gas, and unemployment insurance taxes in the country. Yet there remains little appetite among lawmakers to seriously examine whether existing programs are effective — or whether taxpayer dollars are being misused.
Before legislators ask for another dime, they should take immediate action to restore public trust. A clear starting point is Rep. Travis Couture’s HB 2059, which would strengthen transparency and public disclosure for anyone receiving taxpayer funds, including publicly subsidized daycare and childcare programs. The bill doesn’t raise taxes or expand government; it simply ensures that when taxpayer funds are involved, there is real oversight and accountability.
That shouldn’t be controversial. It should be the baseline expectation.
Gov. Ferguson’s openness to an income tax signals where this debate is heading if voters aren’t paying attention. Washingtonians have been clear for generations that they do not want an income tax — especially one pushed in the wake of massive tax hikes and credible evidence of fraud in state-funded programs.
Until legislative leaders and the Governor can demonstrate they are responsible stewards of the resources they already collect, they have no justification for demanding more. Trust, once broken, is hard to restore.
The legislative session begins Monday, and the decisions made in Olympia will shape Washington’s future for years to come. If citizens want a different outcome, it will require vigilance, engagement, and action — because silence is exactly what those pushing higher taxes and less accountability are counting on.
Photo: Washington Deputy Majority Leader, State Rep. Larry Springer. Screenshot from [un]Divided with Brandi Kruse.