Washington Voters Reject Initiative 645 to Keep Millionaires Tax

“From the national results to the early returns on the Millionaires Tax, tonight’s results suggest that voters want leaders focused on affordability, opportunity, and the needs of working families,” King County Executive Girmay Zahilay said in a statement Tuesday night.

Washington voters appear to have rejected Initiative 645, choosing to keep the state’s 9.9% tax on income above $1 million intact, according to initial returns Tuesday, KOMO News reported. With 1,231,727 votes counted as of Tuesday evening, the “No” vote—meaning keep the tax—held 58% against 42% for repeal.

The result appears to mark a victory for supporters of the tax signed into law by Gov. Bob Ferguson on March 30, which will begin collecting revenue in 2029. But while the ballot fight is over, the tax still faces a constitutional challenge in court that could reshape Washington’s revenue system for years.

Washington state early election results: Where key races and measures stand

The 58-42 Split and What I-645 Would Have Done

Initiative 645, sponsored by Let’s Go Washington founder Brian Heywood, sought to do more than simply repeal the millionaires tax. The measure would have barred state and local governments from taxing individual income entirely and prevented the legislature from altering its terms for two years without a supermajority vote.

The “Yes” campaign argued that polling showed voters oppose the tax once they realize the $1 million threshold could eventually be lowered to affect more households. Heywood and Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Bothell, clashed over this point at a Bellevue forum in mid-October, with Heywood warning that voters shouldn’t trust lawmakers to keep the threshold at $1 million.

Washington state early election results — key races and measures

Supporters countered that the law ties the exemption to the $1 million deduction and indexes it to inflation. The state Department of Revenue estimates approximately 20,000 households will pay the tax, generating between $3 billion and $3.5 billion annually.

The Ballot Language Fight

A fiscal statement drafted by the state Attorney General’s Office warned that repeal “would decrease funding” for K-12 education, higher education, and human services. KOMO News reported that supporters challenged this language, arguing no current funding would be affected because collections do not start until 2029.

A Thurston County judge upheld the warning on Aug. 7, and a state Supreme Court commissioner rejected a separate appeal, with the state Supreme Court keeping the disclosure on the ballot. The state Supreme Court later issued a divided ruling that maintained the warning.

I-645: Washington voters opt to keep Millionaires Tax, early results show

At a Seattle Times-KING 5 debate held last month, April Sims, who leads the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, contended that removing the tax would deliver a huge tax break to the state’s richest residents while endangering funding for health care and education.

Gov. Ferguson had urged voters to reject the initiative, warning that repeal could force cuts to child care subsidies and create a $13 billion hole in the state budget. According to the state’s fiscal impact statement, repealing the measure would have cut state revenue by roughly $11.4 billion across fiscal years 2027 to 2031.

Households Face Tax on Excess Income

The tax applies to Washington taxable income above $1 million per household, meaning a household with $1,000,500 in taxable income would owe tax only on the $500 above the threshold. The governor’s office stated that over 41% of the revenue collected in the initial full year will go back to families and small businesses via tax credits and relief.

Christopher Longhurst, CEO of Seattle Children’s, informed KOMO News that restricting charitable deductions under the new tax might deter certain sizable donations to nonprofits, including contributions that support the hospital’s treatment of children from families unable to pay.

Despite Tuesday’s result, the tax still faces a constitutional lawsuit. The case Petter v. Washington, submitted in April to Klickitat County Superior Court by former Attorney General Rob McKenna and former state Supreme Court Justice Phil Talmadge, claims the tax contravenes the state rule that property be taxed uniformly at no more than 1%. The suit relies on Culliton v. Chase, a 1933 ruling that treated income as property. The state maintains that income is not property. The case is expected to reach the state Supreme Court, likely after the election.

The tax takes effect January 1, 2028, with the first payments due in 2029, giving the courts nearly three years to decide whether Washington can collect it at all.

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