VIDEO: WA income tax signed into law with legal challenge right behind

Though the bill has been signed into law, it could be put on hold or repealed as a legal challenge is coming, as well as a likely citizen initiative

Carleen Johnson
The Center Square Washington

Washington Governor Bob Ferguson signed the income tax bill into law Monday — as opponents ready a legal challenge.

“It’s a historic day for Washingtonians,” Ferguson said during a Monday morning bill signing, flanked by about a hundred mostly union supporters who were given pro-income tax signs to carry during the event.

Supporters of the so-called millionaires’ tax of 9.9% on annual income or combined household income above that threshold each year argue it will ensure that everyone in the state is paying their “fair share.”

Ferguson told supporters that the new revenue, estimated at roughly $3.5 billion a year, will fund K-12 education, health care, higher education and other essential governmental services. The governor said the tax revenue will also extend expansions to the working families’ tax credit for about 460,000 families.

Though the bill has been signed into law, it could be put on hold or repealed as a legal challenge is coming, as well as a likely citizen initiative.

“We will be challenging this unconstitutional income tax that the governor just signed into law,” said Citizen Action Defense Fund Executive Director Jackson Maynard just after Monday’s bill signing. “As Rob [McKenna] outlined in his memo that was given to the legislature, that was unfortunately ignored by the legislature and the governor, the state Constitution has a uniformity requirement for any taxes on property, as well as a cap on one percent. This clearly violates that. And so those will be the argument among others that we make in the lawsuit when we file it within the next few days.”

Maynard was referring to former WA Attorney General Rob McKenna, whom CADF has retained to fight the income tax.

Ferguson brought up several speakers ahead of signing the bill Monday, including Bryan Kirschner, an IBM Generative AI Strategist who spoke in support of the legislation and chatted with The Center Square after his speech.

“I work in AI, and I know where the world is headed, and a tremendous amount of income and wealth is going to flow from all over the world into our tech centers economy,” said Kirschner, who indicated he expects to pay the tax. “It’s almost like we’re Alaska for the gold rush. So, it’s as if we would refuse to tax gold, right? We should be taxing the incoming wealth that’s going to be created over the next decade for the benefit of everybody.”

Majority Leader Joe Fitzgibbon, D-West Seattle, told the crowd of supporters he believes most Washingtonians will benefit from the income tax.

“This is much more than a millionaire’s tax bill. This is a tax reform bill at a time when so many Washington families are struggling to make ends meet, we are going to make it a more affordable place to live and a better place to work and to do business. This is a major investment in our future,” Fitzgibbon said. “When the federal government is making it harder and less affordable for people to access healthcare, Washington state is going the other direction, providing stable, ongoing funding for healthcare, for childcare.”

In addition to the lawsuit expected later this week, opponents of the legislation are preparing an initiative campaign, aiming for the November 2026 ballot to ask voters to repeal the tax entirely. Backers would need to collect more than 300,000 valid voter signatures by July 2 to qualify.

This report was first published by The Center Square Washington.