Ferguson kicks off fight to defeat Let’s Go WA’s income tax repeal initiative

SEATTLE [Jake Goldstein-Street] — The initiative to overturn Washington’s new income tax on high earners hasn’t officially qualified for the fall ballot yet, but on Tuesday, Governor Bob Ferguson and other opponents of the measure launched a campaign to defeat it. At Food Lifeline in the city’s South Park neighborhood, Ferguson said that with Initiative […]
Let’s Go Washington turns in over half-a-million signatures on IP26-645 to repeal income tax bill

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 […]
AG Nick Brown offers prosecutorial help after new attacks against signature gatherers

SEATTLE — Washington Attorney General Nick Brown announced Friday, June 12, that his office will assist local prosecutors investigating crimes against people collecting signatures for ballot initiatives and referendums, citing a recent pattern of harassment and violence. “We should not tolerate illegal actions that threaten to disrupt Washington’s democratic process,” Brown wrote in his announcement. […]
Ferguson admits LGW’s income tax repeal initiative will be on November ballot

OLYMPIA—Governor Bob Ferguson on Wednesday, May 27, publicly acknowledged that Let’s Go Washington’s initiative to repeal the newly enacted income tax he signed into law on March 30, will collect the required 309,000 valid signatures by the July 2nd deadline to qualify for the November 3rd general election ballot. “It looks like voters will get a say […]
Let’s Go Washington launches signature drive to repeal new state income tax

REDMOND—Let’s Go Washington launched a signature-gathering campaign Tuesday, May 12, for initiative IP26-645 to repeal Washington’s newly enacted 9.9% tax on household income above $1 million and place the issue before voters on the November 2026 ballot. The political committee, led by founder Brian Heywood, announced the drive at a press conference as the conservative […]
WA Supreme Court rules “Necessity Clause” shields new income tax law from voter referendum

OLYMPIA [JERRY CORNFIELD & JAKE GOLDSTEN-STREET]—Washington’s Supreme Court on Monday, May 4, denied Let’s Go Washington’s, a conservative political committee, request to pursue an attempt to repeal the state’s new income tax law with a referendum this fall. The opposition can still move forward with an initiative to overturn the tax on millionaire earners. But […]
WA Supreme Court fast-tracks Let’s Go Washington referendum fight against new income tax law

OLYMPIA—The Washington State Supreme Court has agreed to review an emergency petition brought by Let’s Go Washington after the political action group was denied a referendum to repeal SB-6346, the income tax bill signed into law by Governor Bob Ferguson on March 30. “At the direction of the Court Commissioner, the emergency motion for accelerated […]
Ferguson signs new income tax bill, lawsuit and referendum challenges begin

OLYMPIA — Governor Bob Ferguson signed Senate Bill 6346 into law March 30, enacting a 9.9% income tax on annual income above $1 million as the Citizen Action Defense Fund announced a legal challenge and Let’s Go Washington also announcing it is launching a referendum to repeal the measure. The bill passed the full Senate […]
As Washington gets an income tax, the fight to overturn it begins

[OLYMPIA | JERRY CORNFIELD]—Come Monday, Washington is expected to have a state income tax on the books for the first time in nearly a century. Then what? A legal challenge certainly, maybe two. A ballot battle as well, its timing less certain. Opponents of the much-debated 9.9% tax on households with incomes above $1 million a […]
Bill critics dubbed the ‘initiative killer’ appears dead for 2026 session

OLYMPIA [The Center Square] — The initiative killer bill appears to be dead in Olympia, at least for this session. SB 5973 – sponsored by Sen. Javier Valdez, D-Seattle, cleared out of the Senate State Government Tribal Affairs and Elections Committee last month, but on Tuesday, Sen. Minority Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, said the bill was not expected to […]