LGW founder Brian Heywood said: "Our state constitution is the law of the land and not a suggestion that the legislature and the Governor can ignore on a whim."
Today, in response to the WA State Democrats and Governor Bob Ferguson ignoring the will of the people by passing and signing an unconstitutional income tax into state law, Let’s Go Washington—led by founder Brian Heywood—filed a referendum to repeal the new tax.
Brian Heywood issued the following statement:
“Today, Let’s Go Washington is filing a referendum to repeal Governor Ferguson’s income tax. We are filing this referendum to repeal Governor Ferguson’s unconstitutional income tax because, unlike King Bob, we believe that the framers of our state’s constitution meant it when they wrote that ‘all political power is inherent in the people and governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed’. Our state constitution is the law of the land and not a suggestion that the legislature and the Governor can ignore on a whim.
The capital gains tax, estate tax, and now the income tax is driving entrepreneurs, businesses, and employees away from the state. This hastily drafted, poorly written, and unconstitutional income tax forces thousands of small businesses to scramble to understand how much more they’ll be forced to pay in taxes."
Article II, Section 1(b) of the Washington State Constitution addresses the people’s reserved power of referendum.
“Gov. Ferguson signed the Democrats’ new 9.9% income tax — with a ‘necessity clause’ - designed to block you from voting on it. There's just one problem. The WA Constitution says necessity clauses apply only to laws needed for ‘the immediate preservation of public peace, health or safety, support of the state government and its existing public institutions.’ That's a comma. Not an ‘or.’
Both conditions must be met: 1. An immediate emergency, 2. Support of existing institutions. A brand new unconstitutional income tax — one that doesn't take effect until 2029 — isn't an emergency and is designed to support a budget that doesn’t even exist yet. The legislature and the governor know it is unconstitutional. They attached the necessity clause to prevent voters from having a say, invented an ‘or’ that isn't in the Constitution, and dared someone to stop them. So we are standing up for the constitution and have filed a referendum anyway. The voters of Washington deserve the chance to decide — and we intend to give it to them.
They loudly preached affordability, then dropped an income tax on all Washingtonians. Let’s Go Washington remains dedicated to fixing what’s broken in Olympia.”
Thank you, Mr. Heywood, for your tireless efforts - It is important to remind the State Democrats and King Ferguson that they took an oath to uphold the State Constitution!
Washington voters have rejected income taxes 11 times since 1930, and they’re not ready to accept one now, regardless of how it’s packaged.
AS A REMINDER: In the 2026 legislative session, more than 116,000 Washingtonians made state history by signing in to oppose the 9.9% income tax heard in the State House of Representatives, making it the most opposed bill to ever come before the Washington State Legislature. Also, a few weeks prior, nearly 62,000 people signed in to oppose SB 6346 in the two days leading up to a Senate budget committee hearing.
The legislation, called the “millionaires’ tax,” imposes a 9.9% rate on household income exceeding $1 million annually, with the tax applying to income earned starting in 2028; it is expected to eventually expand beyond high earners and will inevitably capture the middle class…
Specifically, the bill violates the state constitution’s long-standing prohibition on progressive income taxes, Article VII, Section 1 (as amended by Amendment 14 in 1930):
“All taxes shall be uniform upon the same class of property within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax and shall be levied and collected for public purposes only. The word ‘property’ as used herein shall mean and include everything, whether tangible or intangible, subject to ownership.”
This requires that taxes on the same class of property be applied at a uniform rate (no graduated brackets based on the amount).
Washington courts have long held that income qualifies as “property” under this broad definition.
Next expect lawsuits! State Democrats and King Ferguson, your days in office are numbered…
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