Voters in Washington will decide on a ballot measure that would repeal legislation establishing an income tax for certain households and ban income taxes altogether on Nov. 3, 2026.
More specifically, the measure — known as I-645 — is an Initiative to the People, a type of initiated state statute, that would repeal provisions of Senate Bill 6346 (SB 6346) that enacted a 9.9% tax on household income exceeding $1 million, effective in 2028. Additionally, the measure would prohibit taxes on income in general, and define income as "any gain or benefit measured in money derived from an individual's capital, labor, property, or other source."
The Washington secretary of state's office certified the initiative for the ballot on July 15, 2026, stating that a 3% sampling of the petition's signatures showed enough valid signatures and that further review was not required.
Let's Go Washington, the organization leading the campaign in support of the initiative, said, "The income tax is not just a tax on 'the rich'; it is a legal test case designed to open the door to a broader statewide income tax. Senator Jamie Pedersen communicated openly with the Attorney General’s Office about how to get the Washington Supreme Court to reconsider longstanding income-tax precedent, and sidestep voters to pass his unconstitutional tax."
Brian Heywood, founder of Let's Go Washington and hedge fund manager, responded to the certification, saying, "We're grateful for the dedication of the Secretary of State's office to ensure that the hundreds of thousands of signatures gathered are validly counted. Today's verification proves that Washingtonians will have their voice heard this November, no matter how hard Jamie Pedersen and Bob Ferguson worked to keep them out of the process."
Erik Houser, spokesperson for the campaign against the initiative, No on I-645, stated, "[Heywood is a] Republican hedge fund mogul... seeking to slash his own taxes while cutting essential funding for health care, child care, and K-12 education, and putting in jeopardy tax cuts for working and middle-class families and small businesses."
Gov. Bob Ferguson (D), who joined the No on I-645 campaign, said, "It's a choice between investing in our kids' education and childcare access and affordability, or going backward with cuts in education and limiting access to childcare. In short, it's a choice between the future and the past."
I-645 is the third initiative sponsored by Let's Go Washington to qualify for the Nov. 3, 2026, ballot. The other two measures — IL26-638 and IL26-001 — would prohibit male students from participating in sports designated for female students, and would require verification of their sex by a health care provider based on "reproductive anatomy, genetic makeup, or normal endogenously produced testosterone levels", and re-enact an initiative that provided parents with a right to review educational materials, receive certain notifications, and opt out of sexual health education, respectively.
Senate Bill 6346
On March 30, 2026, Ferguson signed SB 6346, following decades of ballot measures regarding personal income taxes in Washington. Voters have decided on eight ballot measures related to a personal income tax, approving one and rejecting seven.
In 2024, the legislature approved an indirect initiated state statute, Initiative 2111, which prohibited the state and local governments from enacting a personal income tax. SB 6346 provided an exception for the tax on household income above $1 million. Let's Go Washington sponsored that initiative as well.
Opponents of SB 6346 were unable to file a veto referendum against the bill. Brian Heywood, founder of Let's Go Washington and hedge fund manager, initially attempted to file a referendum petition, but was rejected by both Secretary of State Steve Hobbs and the Washington State Supreme Court, which stated that the Washington Constitution allows laws to be protected from referendum campaigns if those laws support state government. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice Debra Stephens said, "Consistent with the words of the constitution and our unbroken line of precedent, we hold that ESSB 6346 falls within the exception for laws that are 'necessary for the . . . support of the state government' and not subject to referendum under article II, section 1."
History of income tax ballot measures in Washington
The one income tax ballot measure approved was Initiative 69 of 1932, an initiated state statute establishing a graduated income tax ranging from 1.0% to 7.0%. Initiative 69 received 70% of the vote. On September 8, 1933, the Washington Supreme Court, in Culliton v. Chase, ruled that Initiative 69 violated the state constitution's clause that "all taxes shall be uniform upon the same class of property..." The court held that income is property under the state constitution, and because the constitution requires taxes on the same class of property to be uniform, an income tax could not have graduated rates.
The legislature proposed several constitutional amendments to address the court's ruling. In 1936, voters rejected SJR 7, which would have amended the uniform taxation clause to allow for a graduated income tax. In 1938, voters rejected SJR 5, which would also have allowed a graduated income tax. In 1942, voters rejected HJR 4. After HJR 4, the legislature did not propose amending the constitution to allow for an income tax until 1970, when voters rejected HJR 42. HJR 42 would have reduced the maximum property tax rate to 1% and allowed for a single-rate income tax, also known as a flat income tax. The legislature last proposed a change in 1973, when voters rejected HJR 37, which would have placed limits on school district taxes and authorized a graduated income tax.
Voters have also rejected two initiated state statutes after Initiative 69 of 1932. In 1944, 70% of voters rejected an initiative to establish a flat 3% income tax to fund monthly payments to the elderly, blind, disabled, and widowed. In 2010, 64% of voters rejected Initiative 1098, which would have established a tax on adjusted gross income above $200,000 for individuals and $400,000 for married couples.
Opponents of SB 6346 have cited the court's ruling against Initiative 69. Former Attorney General Rob McKenna (R) said, "Washington’s constitution is clear, and the courts have been equally clear for nearly a century — income is property, and progressive income taxes are unconstitutional under existing law."
Supporting SB 6346, state House Majority Leader Joe Fitzgibbon (D-34), stated that "[Culliton] was a single Supreme Court case from before anybody in this room was alive, on a five-to-four decision that said income was property," and that "no other state in the union, nor the federal government" has shared that opinion.
Recent ballot measures to tax income of $1 million or more
Voters have decided on three ballot measures to enact a tax on income above $1 million since 2000.
- In 2004, voters in California approved Proposition 63, with 54% of the vote. Proposition 63 enacted a 1% tax on income above $1 million and dedicated the tax revenue to mental health services and programs.
- In 2022, voters in California rejected Proposition 30, with 58% voting against the initiative. Proposition 30 would have enacted a 1.75% tax on income above $2 million and dedicated tax revenue to zero-emission vehicle subsidies, zero-emission vehicle infrastructure, such as electric vehicle charging stations, and wildfire suppression and prevention programs.
- In 2022, voters in Massachusetts approved Question 1, with 52% of the vote. Question 1 levied a 4% tax on income above $1 million and dedicated revenue to education and transportation purposes.
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