Income tax foes will pursue repeal on fall ballot

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, May 13, 2026

Let’s Go Washington began gathering signatures Tuesday for an initiative to repeal the state’s new income tax on high earners, the start to what could be a blockbuster ballot battle this fall.

“We don’t care how you define it, income tax is illegal in this state. And the voters in the state have voted numerous times to ban an income tax,” Brian Heywood, the founder and chief financier of the conservative political committee, said at a morning news conference.

Qualifying won’t be easy. The group must turn in 308,911 valid signatures of registered voters by July 2 — a time span of 51 days. State election officials suggest submitting at least 390,000 signatures to account for invalid ones.

“We are extremely confident that we’ll be able to do this,” Heywood said, noting the group gathered more signatures in less time to get an initiative concerning natural gas on the ballot two years ago.

Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, a lead sponsor and driving force for the income tax, said he has no doubts that Heywood’s group will succeed in making the ballot.

“I welcome the conversation because I think the voters are with us,” he said.

Rep. April Berg, D-Mill Creek, chair of the House Finance Committee, said voters value tax fairness and understand that those who make the least are paying a larger share of their income to support public services.

“I think voters will affirm what we did in Olympia this session,” she said.

Chantell Mellott of North Bend filed the measure, IP26-645, on April 20. The state attorney general’s office issued a ballot title May 4 that was not challenged in the ensuing five-day appeal period.

The measure takes aim at Senate Bill 6346, the new law that imposes a 9.9% levy on household wage income above $1 million starting in 2028. Collections would begin in 2029 and generate around $3 billion a year from an estimated 21,000 filers.

The initiative, if passed, would repeal that levy on high earners. It would also prohibit state and local governments from passing any tax on individual income, regardless of source. And it would chisel into state law a definition of income as “any gain or benefit measured in money derived from an individual’s capital, labor, property, or other source.”

But, in a twist, the measure would retain provisions in the controversial law to expand a tax credit program for low-income families, provide tax relief for more businesses, and erase sales tax on diapers, personal hygiene products and over-the-counter drugs.

It also keeps in place elimination of the new sales tax on services in 2029. However, it would ditch language pledging 5% of tax collections each year to the Fair Start for Kids account that supports early learning programs.

“We’re grateful that the Legislature was able to reduce some taxes on things that they’ve already been penalizing people on,” Heywood said. “So we’re not repealing any of those things.”

Pedersen said he thought the legislation was written so that if the income tax provision is removed, the rest of the bill is nullified. Lawyers will have to decide that, he said.

If it is allowed, the effect of axing the revenue stream from an income tax coupled with ending other taxes “is going to exacerbate the problem” of finding enough resources for education, healthcare, social services and other programs, he said.

Meanwhile, Millionaires Tax for Washington, a newly-formed labor-funded coalition, said it’s been expected that voters “will have the final say.”

“We look forward to making our case to the public that this is a sensible policy that makes our tax code more fair and raises critically important funding for education, health care, and other public priorities, while reducing taxes on lower and middle income families and on small businesses,” said Aisling Kerins, the coalition’s political consultant.

Let’s Go Washington tried to pursue a referendum on the income tax, but was rebuffed by Secretary of State Steve Hobbs’ office. The Supreme Court last week sided with Hobbs, saying a so-called necessity clause in the law shielded it from a referendum. A referendum would’ve required half as many signatures as an initiative to make it on the ballot.

This measure, if it qualifies, would join two other initiatives sponsored by Let’s Go Washington that will appear atop ballots statewide in November. One concerns parental rights for public school students, and the other participation of transgender girls competing in girls’ school sports.