"Earlier this year, state Lawmakers passed an income tax that can be expanded to middle and working-class families. Now that lawmakers can expand the tax, do you think they will?   

Calling it anything other than an income tax is a branding choice, not a legal guarantee. The bill taxes “the receipt of Washington taxable income,” and lawmakers rejected every amendment that would have let voters lock the $1 million threshold in place, including one tied to a constitutional amendment. The threshold is already slipping, even without lawmakers touching it. In one year, the Department of Revenue revised its estimate of who pays this tax from 21,000 households to roughly 25,000, simply because incomes grew faster than the threshold. Washington has lived this before: the capital gains tax passed in 2021 was sold as narrow, targeting only investment profits over $250,000. Five years later, lawmakers used that same argument to pass a full income tax.   

I-645 repeals this tax before it starts, so we never find out how far Olympia was willing to go. 

One sentence, added to eleven separate pension laws, quietly removed protections dating back to 1947 for public employee retirement benefits. Teachers, firefighters, and police officers lost that protection at every income level, without notice or debate. These are not the wealthy this tax was sold as targeting, yet their retirement benefits are now inside the tax base. If this tax were truly only intended for millionaires, there was no reason to touch pension protections at all. Social Security is also at risk. Washington’s new income tax has zero named protections for social security. None. The tax is coming for middle- and working-class families.  

I-645 restores the pension protections Olympia erased and keeps Social Security off the table. 

Washington’s charitable giving culture is at risk under the new income tax.  The result: smaller, local charities lose donor funding, fewer kids are rescued from fentanyl, fewer battered women have a safe shelter, and hundreds of millions of dollars in uncompensated health care and community health programs are at risk. Without philanthropy dollars, programs will be cut, and costs for everyone else go up. The law caps charitable deductions at $100,000, discouraging exactly the transformational gifts nonprofits depend on most. Its domicile rules compound the problem: continued giving to Washington charities can work against someone trying to prove they’ve moved away, so advisors now tell departing donors the safest move is to cut off giving entirely. 

I-645 repeals the charity tax and makes sure our neighbors have access to the services they need. 

"Initiative-645 is an initiative to the people to repeal Washington’s new income tax and prohibit state and local governments from imposing any tax on individual income. Your paycheck and your income are your property. I-645 repeals the income tax framework enacted by SB 6346, but leaves the benefits for Washingtonians included in place.

• THE INCOME TAX IS COMING FOR YOU. 
  Leaked emails show the real plan: Jamie Pedersen and Bob Ferguson want an income tax on everyone. 
  The tax was built to apply broadly, with only a million-dollar deduction and no cap to keep your income safe. 
  The majority party is counting on you not paying attention.
• YOU CAN’T TRUST THE INCOME TAX AUTHORS. 
  They ignored constitutional limits. 
  They bent the rules because they think the rules don’t apply to them. 
  Phil Talmadge, a Democratic former State Senator and State Supreme Court Justice, has said the tax did not follow the rules. 
  Rep. Larry Springer (D-Bellevue) and Sen. Adrian Cortes (D-Battle Ground) have warned that the legislature should not be trusted to keep the income tax on just incomes over one million.
• MORE SPENDING. WORSE RESULTS. 
  Every governor for the last 14 years has promised that more money would solve the problems they created. 
  Budgets doubled, but homelessness got worse, schools fell behind, and roads deteriorated. 
  Bob Ferguson has more money than any governor in state history, and the problems are still getting worse.
• PEOPLE ARE LEAVING. 
  Wealthy taxpayers, business owners, and major employers are leaving Washington. 
  Those who cannot leave will be hurt most. 
  When the people targeted by this tax leave, government will not spend less, they will come after everyone else.
• WHO OWNS YOUR INCOME? 
  Jamie Pedersen says government owns your income and lets you keep some. 
  We believe your income belongs to you: vote YES if you agree.” - Let's Go Washington   

"Vote NO on Initiative 645. 

I-645 cuts funding for K-12 schools, health care, and child care. 

I-645 increases taxes on working families and small businesses. 

I-645 would give the top one percent a tax cut while the rest of us pay more. 

Initiative 645 will cut $13 billion in funding… 

Larger class sizes and fewer one-on-one supports for K-12 students. 

Increased health care costs for Washington families. 

More cuts to child care — making it more expensive for more working families. 

Elimination of free school meals for many K-12 students. 

And Initiative 645 will lead to increased taxes… 

Increases the B&O tax on most Washington small businesses. 

Increases taxes for hundreds of thousands of working families by limiting who’s eligible for the working families tax credit. 

Increases taxes on over-the counter medicine, diapers, and other essential household items. 

The multi-millionaire behind Initiative 645… 

Hedge fund manager and multi-millionaire Brian Heywood is behind I-645, which would give him and his wealthy friends a tax break while increasing taxes and costs for the rest of us. 

I-645 would repeal the Millionaires Tax, a historic new law that will modestly increase taxes on just the top half of one percent of Washingtonians – while cutting taxes for the other 99.5% of us. And the facts are clear: the Millionaires Tax is a tax only on millionaires and income over one million dollars. 

The governor has promised to veto any expansion of the tax, and any attempt to expand the tax would inevitably end up in front of the voters as an initiative. In the end, voters will always have the final say about who pays this tax and can reject any efforts to expand it. 

Despite what Brian Heywood says, the Millionaires Tax bill that was signed into law was a package, with tax cuts for 99.5% of Washingtonians paid for by a tax on millionaires. Passing the initiative would put these critical tax breaks for Washingtonians in jeopardy, tax breaks that are only paid for by the Millionaires Tax." - No on 645 

"This measure would cut $13 billion from schools, hospitals, and childcare to give the richest 1% a tax cut. 

IP26-645 on your ballot would give just mega-millionaires and billionaires a tax cut while raising costs for the rest of us. In Washington, the people with the lowest incomes pay 3.5x more in state and local taxes than the richest 1%. That’s why we’re the second worst in the U.S. when it comes to tax fairness and I-645 will make this even worse. 

Initiative 645 would blow a massive $13 billion hole in our state budget, resulting in devastating cuts to K-12 education, healthcare, human services, and higher education.  

By giving a tax cut to the super-rich, I-645 will also result in:  

• Increased costs for the rest of us
• Taking money out of our pockets by repealing working family tax rebates for nearly 500,000 families
• Hurting nearly all small businesses by eliminating B&O tax breaks 
• Making childcare even more expensive for working parents 

Vote No on I-645.

MAGA mega-donor Brian Heywood, who spent millions to qualify this repeal of the Millionaires Tax for the ballot, is one of the very few ultra-wealthy people in Washington who would benefit from this measure passing. Is it any wonder he is pushing to have it repealed and doesn’t care what harm a repeal will do to kids and families in our state?

Vote NO on I-645." - Defend Washington