Washington state’s debate over taxing millionaires is part of a broader push in Democratic-led states to address affordability and budget shortfalls, often by raising taxes on high-income households and certain investment-related earnings. In Washington, lawmakers are weighing a measure that would impose a nearly 10% annual tax on personal earnings over $1 million, with the stated aim of generating “billions” in new revenue for programs such as free K-12 school meals, childcare services and a family tax credit. The proposal also would eliminate sales taxes on certain personal care items, according to the description in the state legislative debate.
Backers of the idea include Chuck Collins, who is described as a founding member of the Patriotic Millionaires group that supports higher taxes on the super affluent. Collins said people are “waking up to the harms of these inequalities,” adding that, “Including people who have wealth … if we keep going down this road, it ain’t going to end well for anybody.” The article says Collins helped shape a higher tax in Massachusetts on income over $1 million, and that similar approaches have taken hold in a handful of other blue states, including California, Maryland, Minnesota and New Jersey.
The measure in Washington is moving through the Legislature after the state House adopted it this week following an all-night session on amendments. The bill then heads back to the Senate, where a version previously passed, with Gov. Bob Ferguson indicating he would support it if lawmakers can send it to him before the Legislature adjourns Thursday, according to the account.
House Majority Leader Joe Fitzgibbon described Washington’s tax system as unusually regressive, saying it has “been an extremely regressive tax structure for 93 years” and that it “falls very heavily on working and middle class people in our state.” In his view, changing that structure would help, and he said, “We don’t need to be a tax haven.” The broader context described in the report notes that a state Supreme Court decision nearly a century ago struck down an income tax, leaving Washington as one of the few Democratic-controlled states that does not tax wages or salaries, though it taxes certain investment proceeds.
Critics and some lawmakers remain concerned that taxing the wealthy may not solve state revenue problems comprehensively and could deter businesses. The story highlights Colin Hathaway, a Washington millionaire businessman who said he worries the proposed tax would treat money earned by his roofing company as income even though he puts most of it back into the business. Hathaway said he has already been hit by the state’s previous move to raise capital gains taxes and warned that an additional levy could push him to leave the state, saying, “There’s a strong incentive to not be doing business here.” The report also notes that if the measure becomes law, it is likely to be challenged in court and potentially through a ballot measure.
The debate over “tax the rich” proposals is also appearing in multiple other states. In California, advocates are working on a ballot measure that would impose a one-time 5% tax on the assets of people with $1 billion net worth, using the extra revenue to backfill federal funding cuts to health services for lower-income people signed by President Donald Trump last year. The report quotes Jared Walczak, a senior fellow at the Tax Foundation, saying critics view the California effort as evidence that the push is no longer just about raising revenue but also about reducing or even erasing excessive wealth, and Walczak pointed to language in ballot materials describing the tax as targeting “sustaining excessive accumulations of wealth.”
Elsewhere, Rhode Island legislators are debating a budget proposal backed by Democratic Gov. Dan McKee that would enact higher taxes on residents earning $1 million or more. In Michigan, organizers are working to collect enough signatures to qualify a ballot initiative for voters in November that would replace the state’s flat tax with additional 5% tax rates on higher earners, including individuals making over $500,000 and joint filers above $1 million; organizers say it would direct new revenue to K-12 schools, and the report says the effort is backed by the state’s board of education. In New York, the article says Mayor Zohran Mamdani has renewed a push for New York state to raise taxes on the rich, although he faces opposition from Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, and it adds that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has made a similar call though the Illinois Statehouse has not moved on imposing a millionaire tax.
The push for wealth and millionaire taxes in blue states is contrasted with Republican-led states that have been more critical of higher taxes on rich residents, the report says, moving instead to abolish or significantly reduce personal income taxes. The article notes that eight states have no income tax at all and quotes Walczak on the growing gap between states offering tax relief and those seeking higher taxes on wealthy residents. It also includes comments from David Kass, executive director of Americans for Tax Fairness, who said many Americans are “pretty fed up” because they see “two tax systems”—one for average people and another for the super wealthy with “all these tax breaks and all these special loopholes.”
Massachusetts often features in the debate over how such taxes perform, the report says, pointing to the Fair Share Amendment passed by voters in 2022 that added a 4% surtax on income over $1 million, with the threshold rising annually for inflation. The article states the amendment has collected $6 billion for education and transportation, citing the state’s Executive Office for Administration and Finance. Collins, the Patriotic Millionaires founder, said, “It’s good for everybody, in a time of grotesque inequality, for wealthy people to chip in a little bit more,” adding, “Especially at a time when others are just struggling to keep up.”