WASHINGTON STATE — On Monday, the state Senate narrowly advanced a proposed millionaires tax, Senate Bill 6346, which would tax individuals earning more than a million dollars annually at nearly 10%. Governor Bob Ferguson supports the legislation, seeing it as a way to fund various state initiatives.
Governor Ferguson addressed the tax proposal during a press conference, highlighting that it could generate $3.5 billion annually. The governor plans to allocate millions to the Working Families Tax Credit and is considering a sales tax holiday, a concept used in other states before the school year begins.
Ferguson aims to allocate $1.9 billion to fund a potential sales tax holiday. He also proposes directing $1 billion to support small businesses, claiming it could save small business owners an average of $5,000 per year.
“We should a billion dollars of this new revenue to give small business owners a significant, and that’s an understatement, tax break,” Ferguson said.
The proposal comes amidst concerns from the Association of Washington Business, which claims the number of employers considering relocating their businesses out of state has doubled. Jonathan Bingle, a candidate for the Washington State House of Representatives, expressed opposition to the tax, arguing it would ultimately affect working Washingtonians.
“Those people probably own businesses, probably own properties, probably own things. What ends up happening is that tax just gets passed onto us and I don’t understand why people making policy have such a hard time understanding that every new tax they pass in the end hurts people who are lower income folks,” Bingle said.
The bill now moves to the Washington House, where it faces a challenging approval process before the legislative session ends on March 12.
