OLYMPIA… Less than two years after supporting the passage of a voter-requested ban on any income tax in Washington, Senate Democrats have introduced legislation to reverse it. Their Senate Bill 6346 would impose a 9.9% income tax on Washingtonians, sparing only those earning under $1 million for now.

Sen. Chris Gildon, R-Puyallup, the Republican leader on the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said the proposal isn’t what it seems.

“This is being marketed as a tax on millionaires, but that’s not what this bill actually does,” Gildon said. “It’s a tax on everyone — with a temporary exemption for the first $1 million. Lawmakers could adjust the threshold at any time with a simple majority vote, and history shows they will.”

Gildon noted Washington voters have rejected income-tax proposals 10 times since the 1930s.

“No other issue in our state’s history has been rejected so clearly, so consistently, by so many voters,” he said. “Yet here we are again, being asked to trust that this version will be different – when it is just as unconstitutional as every other attempt.”

Supporters claim an income tax will make Washington’s tax system fairer. Gildon says the bill does the opposite.

“If the goal were truly to reduce regressivity, lawmakers wouldn’t keep 95% of the revenue for government spending and devote a token 5% to lowering taxes for working people,” he said. “That’s not reform — that’s tax layering.”

Gildon warned that beyond breaking faith with voters, imposing an income tax risks long-term harm to the state’s competitiveness.

“Washington used to promote the fact that it had no income tax, knowing how employers and entrepreneurs appreciate stability and transparency. This bill upends both. The first million might be exempt today, but once the framework is in place, every income level is on the table tomorrow.”

“This is not about fairness or affordability,” Gildon added. “It’s about control — and it’s the wrong direction for Washington.”