WA Supreme Court blocks bid to put state income tax before voters

(The Center Square) - An appeal to the Washington State Supreme Court to allow a referendum effort on the new income tax law to proceed was denied on Monday.

The political group Let’s Go Washington initially filed a referendum request with the Secretary of State’s office, looking for the green light to begin gathering voter signatures to place a referendum on the ballot for voters to decide the fate of the state's so-called "millionaire's tax."

Secretary of State Steve Hobbs rejected the measure, citing the fact state lawmakers attached a “necessity” to the bill, stating that despite the fact the tax doesn’t start until first payments begin in 2029, it is necessary for the immediate support of state government.

“We were certainly hoping that the Supreme Court would rule on the side of the people and the Constitution, but they are citing precedent and that is something we considered,” Hallie Balch with LGW told The Center Square.

“The referendum is not happening, so now we’re just exploring other options as to whether we do an initiative to the people or the Legislature, and whether we do it this year or next,” she added.

“We’re actually energized a little bit by the fact that they upheld precedent because that may mean that they uphold precedent for the fact that income can’t be taxed in Washington state when that case is heard,” said Balch.

“So it may not be all bad, even though it’s not an immediate win for us.”

In Monday’s public order denying the writ of mandamus, the court wrote:

“Consistent with the words of the constitution and our unbroken line of precedent, we hold that ESSB 6346 falls within the exception for laws that are 'necessary for the . . . support of the state government' and not subject to referendum under article II, section 1."

"Accordingly, a writ of mandamus may not issue because the Secretary of State has no mandatory, nondiscretionary duty to process the petitioners’ proposed referendum.”

Invest in WA Now, one of the main political groups behind the income tax celebrated the court's rejection of LGW’s appeal.

“A study by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) found that the “millionaire class” grew by 46.9% in Washington despite the state’s first ever capital gains tax," the group said in a statement emailed to The Center Square.

"Their wealth grew by more than $748 billion in Washington state between 2022 and 2024. Polling shows Washingtonians overwhelmingly support fixing Washington’s upside down tax code, with 60% supporting the Millionaire's Tax to fund education and health care.”

Washington Democratic Party Chair Shasti Conrad also celebrated SCOW’s decision to reject the appeal for a referendum.

“We’re really proud of the governor and majority Democrats for getting this tax passed. It’s something we’ve asked about for, for decades. There’s been so much work done to fix our regressive tax system, so it’s really nice to see some movement.”

Washington GOP Chair Jim Walsh told The Center Square, the high court's decision to reject an appeal for a referendum was not surprising. 

“It’s driven by politics, not the law. The judges currently on the State Supreme Court should stop playing politics and take a lesson from their colleague in Thurston County Superior Court who actually applied the Constitution and statutory law to the awful anti-sheriff bill in a lawful way.”

Walsh was referring to last week’s decisions from Thurston County Superior Court Judge Christine Schaller granting preliminary injunctions in two lawsuits against SB 5974, the sheriff decertification bill signed into law by Gov. Bob Ferguson.

Let's Go Washington is considering whether to launch a campaign for an initiative aimed at repealing the income tax this year, or next year. 

"We know that it can be done and we know people are really upset by this," said Balch. "So that energizes people and mobilizes them to an even greater degree. So we're still deciding what will be the best outcome.