Keith Goehner: Tell the Senate Budget Committee What You Think About a State Income Tax!

A legislative alert from Senator Keith Goehner

information released

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Legislation to create a state income tax was introduced this week and is being fast-tracked in the state Senate. A public hearing on Senate Bill 6346 is already set for 1:30 p.m. TOMORROW, Feb. 6, in the Senate Ways & Means Committee. It’ll be in Senate Hearing Room 4 of the John A. Cherberg Building on the Capitol Campus in Olympia.

It’s easy to make your voice heard — just click on the links and follow the directions before the committee meeting begins (1:30 p.m. Friday)

Share your position on Senate Bill 6346

Sign up to testify or submit written testimony

My concerns about the income-tax bill include:

• It’s written to impose a 9.9% tax on everyone, but one sentence in the bill provides a standard deduction of $1 million — which is why the supporters are trying to market this as a “millionaire” tax. The trouble is, nothing in the bill prevents a future legislature from changing that single sentence to either reduce or eliminate the deduction.I’m convinced that an income tax on anyone in this state is bound to become an income tax on everyone. After all, the capital-gains income tax was expanded by the majority in 2025, less than two years after collections began. Also, a well-respected Democrat with whom I served in the House has said publicly that no one should assume the tax will never apply to them.
• If this bill becomes law, the income tax would take an estimated $4 billion PER YEAR from Washingtonians without providing meaningful tax relief in exchange. The supporters talk about our state tax code being “upside down” but their proposal wouldn’t fix that. SB 6346 wouldn’t lower anyone’s property tax, and the only sales-tax relief would be for grooming and hygiene products, which does little to make living in Washington more affordable. The majority of the minimal tax relief offered in this bill would go primarily to multibillion-dollar corporations, not families.
• A state income tax is both illegal and unconstitutional. The Initiative 2111 law passed in Olympia two years ago prohibits any kind of income tax in our state. The state Supreme Court ruling against an income tax goes back more than 90 years.
• The people of Washington have rejected an income tax 10 times (most recently through an advisory vote; prior to that they said no to proposed constitutional amendments and initiatives). If SB 6346 becomes law the voters would be prevented from challenging it through a referendum because of a so-called “necessity clause” in the bill. That’s not fair.
• If passed, the income tax wouldn’t be collected until 2029. It would do nothing to address the shortfall in the current budget, so I don’t see why it seems to be such a priority for the majority.

Unfortunately, the committee hearing on the income-tax bill was scheduled with far less public notice than is required by Senate rules — so it’s important to state your position (for or against) and submit written comments before 1:30 p.m. tomorrow.

This is the most important tax legislation seen in Olympia in decades, so I will keep you posted about it.