Washington State Budget & Policy Center

10/08/2026

Emily Vyhnanek recently spoke with The Guardian about our state’s broken tax code, which gives a special deal to the ultra-wealthy at the expense of everyone else. Voting no on I-645 will protect the critical investments that will come from Washington’s new Millionaires Tax and help address our broken tax code.

Read now: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/07/washington-state-millionaire-tax

09/30/2026

Public health expert and former Budget and Policy Center board member Aaron Katz urges readers to vote No on I-645. As he notes in the Everett Herald, I-645 will strip essential revenue from our state budget, and from the budgets of working families, right when we can least afford it.

Read more:

Voting no on I-645 is the right move for Washington and for Snohomish County. And it’s the right move if you care about the health and wellbeing of parents and their kids, because the Millionaires Tax, which I-645 would repeal, will help protect access to Medicaid and other essential programs that...

09/29/2026

A suite of harmful policy changes from the Trump administration, designed to target immigrants and create fear around interacting with the government and accessing benefits, are going into effect this fall and winter.

Read more in our latest blog post, which includes a round up of resources from trusted organizations to share with your community: https://budgetandpolicy.org/schmudget/new-harmful-federal-restrictions-will-impact-immigrants-in-washington/

09/23/2026

In case you missed it, The Seattle Times endorsed NO on I-645. From the piece: "The initiative would ultimately worsen Washington state’s budget problems, producing deeper cuts to state services.... Its passage would make it harder for Gov. Bob Ferguson and state lawmakers to effectively govern the state." Read more:

Initiative 645 would make it harder for Gov. Bob Ferguson and lawmakers in Olympia to effectively govern the state. Voters should say no.

09/21/2026

“Hey Budget and Policy Center, who will pay the Millionaires Tax?”

Great question! When the Millionaires Tax is enacted in 2029, less than 1% of Washington’s wealthiest households (or 20,000 households) will pay this tax.
Our latest fact sheet gives a short overview of how the Millionaires Tax will fund vital programs all Washington residents benefit from AND improve WA’s upside-down tax code. Two wins in one policy – sounds good to us.

Want to learn more about the Millionaires Tax? Read this fact sheet in 5 different languages (English, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Russian, and Vietnamese) and share with your communities: https://budgetandpolicy.org/resources-tools/

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“Budget and Policy Center, ¿quién pagará el Impuesto a los Millonarios?”

¡Esa es una gran pregunta! Cuando el Impuesto a los Millonarios se promulgue en el 2029, menos del 1% de los hogares más ricos de Washington (es decir, 20,000 hogares) pagarán este impuesto.

Nuestra hoja informativa más reciente proporciona un breve resumen de cómo el Impuesto a los Millonarios financiará programas vitales que beneficiarán a todos los residentes de Washington ADEMÁS de mejorar el caótico sistema tributario de WA. Dos victorias con una sola política; algo maravilloso, si nos preguntan.

¿Quiere obtener más información sobre el Impuesto a los Millonarios? Lea esta hoja informativa y compártala con sus comunidades:https://budgetandpolicy.org/resources-tools/2026/09/Millionaires-Tax-Fact-Sheet_es.pdf

09/21/2026

Wildfires devastated families and people across Spokane, WA. rounded up ways to support local community – top of the list: direct cash assistance, which give people the flexibility to rebuild on their own terms. Read more:

After hundreds of homes were lost and more than 10,500 acres burned in Spokane County, the community has launched into support mode.

09/10/2026

“Today the court affirmed what we have argued from the very beginning: no administration is above the law, and paying your taxes does not mean surrendering your right to privacy” – Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Congressman Adriano Espaillat

Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld an order blocking the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from releasing confidential taxpayer information to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). These small but crucial wins matter – offering hope amid ongoing harmful policies that attack our immigrant communities.

Read more: https://chc.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/dc-circuit-sides-chc-and-115-members-congress-block-irs-handing

09/08/2026

Looking for a short and sweet summary of how the Millionaires Tax will impact WA, and who it will benefit? From funding vital programs and services, to taking a key step toward fixing our state’s upside-down tax code – it’s a no brainer that the Millionaires Tax is good for Washington state.
In our latest fact sheet, we cover:
📈 What the new $3 billion in revenue will fund
📈 How it will provide a cash boost to 460,000 more households through the Working Families Tax Credit
📈 How it will provide the largest tax break for small businesses in the state’s history

Read now:https://budgetandpolicy.org/resources-tools/2026/09/BPC-2026-Millionaires-Tax-Fact-Sheet.pdf

Stay tuned for translation of this fact sheet into Spanish, Chinese, Russian, and Vietnamese 😊

09/02/2026

“Cristobal Young, the Cornell University sociologist who co-authored those studies, estimates that Washington’s new 9.9% income tax on the rich would result in a net loss of 1.9% of the state’s $1 million-plus earners. That works out to 475 of Washington’s 25,000 high-earners. That’s not zero, but in Young’s view, it’s still a relatively tiny share. ‘There’s going to be a handful that move,’ he said in an interview. But ‘98% of millionaires are staying and paying that higher tax.’”

In our last blog post, we debunked the false claims behind “millionaire tax flight”, highlighting that:
1. Millionaires, like everyday people, are part of the community! No one likes to move, and research shows that wealthy households choose where they live for the same reasons that many of us do: to be closer to family, to access good schools, and to seek or maintain jobs.

2. Evidence from Washington’s capital gains tax and Millionaires Taxes in other states show that the wealthy tend to stay.

3. The tax rate for the richest 1% in Washington will still be under the national average after the Millionaires tax goes into effect.

Read more on Schumdget: https://budgetandpolicy.org/schmudget/debunking-the-false-claims-behind-millionaire-tax-flight/

08/28/2026

“Microsoft estimates it will pay only $2.46 billion in U.S. income tax this year, despite making more than $101 billion in U.S. profits. That’s just a 2.4% tax rate.” The Seattle Times

While mega-corporations are raking in profits, everyday Washington residents and working families are experiencing major cuts to core services like food and health care assistance. And it doesn’t have to be this way. The exorbitant amount that mega-corporations like Microsoft, T-Mobile, and Amazon makes should go back to our roads, our schools, and our communities. Corporations need to pay what they owe.

Read more: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/were-no-1-for-corporate-tax-breaks/