Overview
- Backers with the conservative group Let’s Go Washington submitted more than 511,000 raw signatures in early July and are awaiting the Secretary of State’s verification for roughly 309,000 valid signatures needed to qualify Initiative 645 for the November ballot.
- If the measure qualifies, voters will be asked to repeal the 9.9% tax that applies to individual or household income above $1 million before the state broadly collects revenue from the law.
- Governor Bob Ferguson and union-backed groups say repealing the tax would wipe out about $13 billion in planned funding for programs such as free K–12 school meals, the Working Families Tax Credit, and small-business tax relief.
- Let’s Go Washington and business allies argue the tax is unconstitutional and an example of government overspending, and they plan a repeal campaign that stresses tax burdens on families and farms.
- The contest will unfold against Washington’s long record of voter resistance to a broad income tax and signs of public unease in recent polls, making the verification step and the November campaign the decisive moments for the law’s future.