Hundreds rally for Washington’s proposed millionaires tax at Capitol steps

Hundreds gathered at the state Capitol in Olympia Tuesday to show their support for a proposed income tax on millionaires in Washington.

At the steps of the Capitol, Rep. Natasha Hill, D-Spokane, voiced her full support for the recently pitched tax on Washington’s highest earners.

“What I’ve heard and what we’ve heard along the way, when I first started, when I first came in, is that we got to fix our tax code,” the freshman legislator said, speaking to a crowd of more than 500. “We got to make sure that Washingtonians across the state all can share in on the wealth that’s being generated.”

Washington is one of only a handful of states without an income tax. This leads critics of the status quo to call out the state’s “regressive” tax system that sees residents paying the same sales and other taxes, regardless of income level.

The protest was organized by the advocacy group Invest in Washington Now and hosted unions from across the state.

Hill said the governor is on the side of Democratic legislators who are pushing for the tax. In December, Gov. Bob Ferguson said he would support a 9.9% income tax on those who make more than a million dollars a year. Ferguson, however, rejected the first proposal put forward last week, and said more money must go back to residents in the form of tax breaks.

“When I came in, I didn’t know who the governor was representing at the time,” she said. “This year, he made sure he was very clear to avoid the confusion that was carrying over the last year, that he was here for all these people.”

She also addressed concerns around the constitutionality of tweaking the tax code, saying the state has the right to tax millionaires and billionaires.

“When we look across the street to the Supreme Court, we need to send them a message, as well, that our Constitution needs to be interpreted in a way that serves the people of Washington today,” she said.

Republicans were quick to condemn the income tax, which advanced out of the Senate Ways and Means committee on Monday. They argued it would eventually affect other earners in the state.