TUMWATER — Let’s Go Washington delivered 511,408 signatures Thursday to the Washington Secretary of State’s office for Initiative to the People IP26-645, an effort to repeal the state’s newly enacted 9.9% tax on annual household income above $1 million and to bar state and local governments from imposing taxes on overall individual income. The submission came at the end of a tight signature-gathering campaign launched May 12 and met the July 2 deadline with a substantial cushion over the 308,911 signatures required.
“Number one is not one single person we talk to believes Olympia when they say this income tax is not coming for them,” Brian Heywood, founder of Let’s Go Washington said after thanking Secretary of State staff for accommodating the Friday-before-holiday-weekend gathering. “They know it’s coming for them, right? Jamie Peterson helped us know that with his pie crust promise, right?”
Heywood echoed former Gov. Christine Gregoire’s observation that Washington has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.
“When is it going to stop? Like, how much is enough?” Heywood then invoked a lyric from The Greatest Showman — “never enough” — to describe the perception that no amount of revenue would ever satisfy the state’s spending demands.
Heywood told attendees that the state’s budget has grown from roughly $30 billion when Gregoire took office to about $80 billion today, then alleging there are no corresponding improvements in roads, schools, ferries, bridges or public safety beyond modest gains from a prior initiative allowing police pursuits.
Heywood said residents trust the state itself but do not believe lawmakers will keep commitments on tax limits or spending restraint.
“And the final thing that we’re hearing from people is that they really don’t trust Washington,” Heywood said. “Actually, they trust Washington, they don’t trust Olympia, right? They don’t trust that Olympia is going to keep their promise or do what they say.”
IP26-645 would repeal the 9.9% levy on household income exceeding $1 million that Gov. Bob Ferguson signed into law March 30 as part of Senate Bill 6346.
The underlying statute applies to residents and nonresidents with Washington-sourced income, covers pass-through entities such as LLCs and S corporations, exempts C corporations and includes a $1 million standard deduction. Collections were scheduled to begin in 2029 for income earned in 2028 and were projected to generate roughly $3 billion annually from about 21,000 filers.
Lawmakers said that the revenue will be used to support expansions of the Working Families Tax Credit, free K-12 meals, child care investments, reductions in business-and-occupation taxes for small companies and sales tax exemptions on diapers, personal hygiene products and over-the-counter drugs. The bill also includes a necessity clause declaring the tax essential for state government operations.
Let’s Go Washington first tried to force a referendum on the law shortly after Ferguson signed it. Secretary of State Steve Hobbs rejected that filing because of the necessity clause, and the Washington Supreme Court upheld the decision on May 4, ruling that the provision satisfied constitutional standards for shielding revenue measures from direct voter referral.
Heywood addressed the political dynamics surrounding the referendum-killer clause during the turn-in event mentioning Attorney General Nick Brown and Gov. Ferguson by name cynically saying they wanted voters to have a chance to decide the issue.
“Who believes that?” Heywood asked the crowd.
He then pointed out that it was the necessity clause that made the referendum — which requires roughly half the signatures of an initiative — an unavailable option, forcing the initiative route.
The Washington State Supreme Court ruling left the initiative route as the only immediate path to the ballot. IP26-645 would repeal the income tax levy outright and add broader language prohibiting any state or local tax on individual income. If passed, it leaves the other tax relief provisions from the original Senate bill intact but removes a set-aside of 5% for attorneys to be deposited into the General Fund.
Gov. Ferguson publicly acknowledged in late May that the effort by Let’s Go Washington appeared on track to meet the signature threshold to be on the November ballot.
“It looks like voters will get a say on whether to maintain the tax on income over $1 million that was passed earlier this year- and I look forward to the public having their say on this important policy,” Gov. Ferguson wrote to X .To be clear, this reform of our regressive tax code included expansion of tax credits for working families, relief for small businesses, and investments in K-12 and affordable childcare. One more thing voters should know: so long as I am Governor I will veto ANY attempt to lower the threshold or raise the rate of this tax– we are asking those who make the most to pay a little more, and providing relief to workers and small businesses. Let’s keep it that way.”
A Democratic supermajority of two-thirds in both chambers would be exactly enough votes needed to override Ferguson’s veto on any bill. Democrats need to win seven seats in the House and three additional seats in the Senate to achieve their super majority goal.
Just as recently as May 15, Gov. Ferguson shared that “If we get that supermajority, I would not only support a redistricting effort — I would lead it.” Washington State Democratic Party Chair Shasti Conrad, House Majority Leader Joe Fitzgibbon (D), and Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen (D) have all also publicly shared their goals for a supermajority Democrat-led legislature.
Opposition to Let’s Go Washington and its initiatives have included formal complaints and legal challenges.
Coincidentally, on May 12, the very same day LGW launched its Income Tax repeal campaign, Washingtonians for Ethical Government (WFEG), a progressive-leaning watchdog group, filed a 24-page complaint against the organization with the Public Disclosure Commission alleging LGW failed to report up to $1.2 million in in-kind contributions from commentator Brandi Kruse.
WFEG alleges that at least 159 instances of Kruse promoting LGW’s 2026 initiatives on her podcast, social media, and YouTube between September 2025 and February 2026., including several appearances at LGW rallies/events constitute as in-kind contributions. Which if the PDC agrees, could escalate to possible lobbying violations brought against Kruse. In Washington state, the penalty for failing to register as a lobbyist while engaging in lobbying activities is primarily a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation—or up to $1.59 million in possible penalties against Kruse.
LGW called the complaint “baseless,” a political attack on free speech, and a “coordinated union attack” even though WFEG itself claims to be an independent watchdog.
A Lynnwood Times investigation uncovered that several major public-sector and healthcare unions are closely aligned with WFEG through its Public Relations firm, Powerhouse Strategies, which all endorsed Bob Ferguson for his gubernatorial run in 2024—SEIU 775, UFCW 3000, WEA, WFSE-AFSCME, and AFL-CIO. These unions are “aligned” with WFEG and fund/share the same progressive consultant, Powerhouse Strategies.
The Public Disclosure Commission is still reviewing the complaint against LGW to determine whether to open a full investigation or drop the case
Separately, the Citizen Action Defense Fund (CADF) filed a lawsuit in April challenging the constitutionality of SB-6346. The suit, brought on behalf of individual taxpayers, farmers and business organizations and led by former Attorney General Rob McKenna and former Supreme Court Justice Phil Talmadge, argues that income constitutes property under the state constitution and must therefore be taxed uniformly. The graduated structure of the new tax, the plaintiffs contend, violates the uniformity requirement and longstanding precedent dating to a 1933 Supreme Court ruling. The case remains pending.
Washington voters have a long record of rejecting broad-based income taxes. The state has placed such proposals before voters on 11 occasions since the 1930s. The sole measure approved by voters, in 1932, was later struck down by the state Supreme Court. In every subsequent vote, including as recently as 2010, voters rejected income-tax measures, often by wide margins.
Heywood devoted a substantial part of his remarks at the turn-in event to what he described as an increase in violence and intimidation directed at signature gatherers over the past year.
“I do appreciate that Nick Brown… put out a couple of tweets… and then he made a video,” Heywood said. “And I’m not mocking him. I appreciate that he made that effort. But I think there needs to be a more concerted effort from our politicians, from our elected leaders that say, we have a democratic process here.”
Heywood then mentioned a specific threat received just the night before Thursday’s turn-in event: a text stating, “I guess somebody wants to die,” in reference to the gathering.
He also singled out Sammamish City Councilwoman Pam Stewart, alleging she approached signature gatherers, tore up petition sheets and attempted to intimidate people into not signing.
“I don’t mind if she has an opinion,” Heywood said. “I don’t mind if she calls me bad names. But when you begin to interfere in the process, and when you’re an elected leader, and you interfere, and you go in and you intimidate, you’re sending a message that it’s okay.”
He further called on the group No Hate in Washington State to ensure its members and supporters do not advocate or engage in violence. Heywood added that the organization’s ideology appears to have gin up individuals allegedly willing to launch violent attacks on signature gatherers and called on its leaders to direct their followers to cease such conduct and only use lawful means to oppose the initiative.
Let’s Go Washington has scheduled its third annual Summer Freedom Fest on August 15 in Redmond featuring Heywood, Brandi Kruse and Ari Hoffman as keynote speakers and is inviting the public to attend. The event will include live music, food trucks, swag, vendor booths, kids inflatables, and dancing! Attendees must RSVP to https://www.letsgowa.com/summer_freedom_fest_26.
Author: Mario Lotmore
