Repeal of Democrats' New Income Tax on Track for November 2026 Ballot
Today in Tumwater, WA, in an impressive display of citizen activism, Brian Heywood, the founder of Let’s Go Washington (LGW), announced that they turned in over 511,000 signatures to repeal the Democrats’ new unconstitutional state income tax. This extraordinary effort far surpasses the required threshold of 308,911 valid signatures needed to qualify the citizens’ initiative for the Nov 2026 ballot. It is even more impressive that the feat was accomplished in only 51 days!
Gathering such a large number of signatures in such a short timeframe highlights the deep frustration many Washingtonians feel towards the Democrats’ push for new taxes on income, which violates the WA State Constitution. It also stands as a testament to the power of true democracy when everyday people mobilize to protect economic freedom and push back against unconstitutional overreach.
The IP26-645 initiative targets ESSB 6346, which the state Democrats passed in the 2026 legislative session. Dems also deviously added a “necessity” clause to the bill that blocked the more preferred, faster referendum path, a move the state Supreme Court upheld in May. That forced LGW to gather twice as many signatures through the citizen initiative process.
At the heart of this success is Brian Heywood and his dedicated team of volunteers, whose organization and determination have proven unmatched. Heywood’s leadership has built a highly efficient grassroots machine, empowering thousands of committed citizens to hit the streets, engage their neighbors, and collect signatures with remarkable speed and accuracy.
“There are three primary problems with this tax: it’s unconstitutional and will be passed onto all income earners, it represents spending in Olympia that voters don’t trust will be used in their best interest, and it was passed by Bob Ferguson and Jamie Pedersen with the sole purpose of keeping the voters out of the process. We’re giving the power back to the people with this initiative and asking them to vote yes to repeal the income tax in November,” Heywood said.
The legislation 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 inevitably capture the middle class…
Specifically, the bill violates the state constitution’s long-standing prohibition on progressive income taxes, Art VII, Section 1 (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.
Washington voters have rejected income taxes 10 times since 1932, and they’re not ready to accept one now, regardless of how it’s packaged.
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 ESSB 6346 in the two days leading up to a Senate budget committee hearing.
This victory means Washington voters will have the chance to weigh in on the IP26-645 Income Tax Repeal alongside two other key LGW citizen initiatives on the November 2026 ballot: IL26-638 Protecting Fairness in Girls’ Sports by keeping biological males out of female competitions, and IL26-001 Strengthening Parental Rights in education through better communication and opt-out options for families.
Thank you, Mr. Heywood and all the LGW volunteers for your tireless efforts!
The WA Secretary of State will now verify the signatures to make it official. LGW will spend the next several months urging Washingtonians to VOTE YES on all three of their initiatives appearing on the November 2026 ballot.
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