Ferguson kicks off fight to defeat WA income tax repeal initiative

SEATTLE — The initiative to overturn Washington’s new income tax on high earners hasn’t officially qualified for the fall ballot yet, but on Tuesday, Gov. Bob Ferguson and other opponents of the measure launched a campaign to defeat it.

At Food Lifeline in the city’s South Park neighborhood, Ferguson said that with Initiative 645, voters will have a decision between upholding the tax and “moving our state forward by making life more affordable for Washingtonians,” or rejecting it and “going backwards.”

This month, the Let’s Go Washington political committee, led by financier Brian Heywood, turned in over 500,000 signatures for the initiative, far more than what was required. The secretary of state’s office still needs to verify them to confirm the repeal measure will go to the November ballot. That process could be done by the end of the week.

During the past century, Washington voters have been asked 11 times to approve personal or corporate income taxes. The first vote, in 1932, was successful. But that measure was struck down by the state Supreme Court on a 5-4 decision in 1933. Later measures failed.

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/07/14/ferguson-kicks-off-fight-to-defeat-wa-initiative-to-repeal-income-tax/