A coalition of wealthy Washington residents has succeeded in placing a measure to repeal the state's new tax on high earners before voters this fall. The effort targets the 9.9 percent tax on income above $1 million that lawmakers passed earlier this year.

Initiative 645, sponsored by the Let's Go Washington political action committee, qualified for the November 3 ballot after organizers submitted 511,408 signatures. State officials verified enough valid signatures to exceed the required threshold. The measure would repeal the tax enacted through Senate Bill 6346, signed by Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson in March, and prohibit future income taxes.

The tax applies to roughly 20,000 households and is projected to generate more than $3 billion annually starting in 2029. Revenue would support education, health care, and human services, along with sales tax relief measures included in the original legislation.

Proponents of the repeal argue the policy threatens Washington's business-friendly environment. Hedge fund founder Brian Heywood, who financed the signature drive, warned that the tax has already shifted the state from one of the most attractive places for entrepreneurs to the least attractive. Former U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler echoed concerns that the measure represents the first step toward broader income taxation.

Supporters of the tax, including Ferguson and labor groups, counter that it affects less than half a percent of residents and addresses the state's regressive tax structure. They note the tax pairs with expansions of the Working Families Tax Credit and other relief for lower- and middle-income households.

The initiative arrives amid ongoing legal challenges to the tax based on a 1933 state Supreme Court ruling that income counts as property subject to uniform taxation rules. Washington remains one of nine states without a broad personal income tax.

Voters will decide the measure in November. A similar effort by Heywood's group failed to repeal the state's capital gains tax in 2024.