80,640 weighed in at Legislature about contentious WA bill. What’s the record?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- SB 6346 would levy 9.9% on income over $1M, funding public defense and tax breaks.
- Over 80,640 signed in: ~61,240 con, ~19,100 pro, 315 other.
- SB 6346 passed committee and will face Senate floor debate before March 12, 2026.
Republicans in the Washington Senate are referring to a controversial income-tax proposal as the “most unpopular bill” in state history.
Senate Bill 6346, which Democrats have branded the “millionaires tax,” was the subject of a tense public hearing on Feb. 6. A long line stretched outside the hearing room, forming at least an hour ahead of start time. Lawmakers heard arguments from proponents and critics for more than an hour and a half before ending testimony and turning to other bills.
Gov. Bob Ferguson has thrown his weight behind the income tax on residents earning more than $1 million annually, which Democratic lawmakers argue would help balance the state’s regressive tax code and support essential services, health care and public schools.
The proposal would hit less than 1% of the state’s richest households, Democrats say, and would levy a 9.9% tax on income higher than $1 million, with some of the revenue going to fund public defense and tax breaks for working families and small businesses.
Opponents point out that Washington voters have repeatedly shot down efforts to install an income tax. Republicans say that although the measure would only affect high earners now, they worry it would eventually be expanded to apply to other residents, too.
A public records request to the Washington State Legislature’s Public Records Center showed that SB 6346 attracted the highest testifier count on record. More than 80,640 people signed in to register their position on the legislative record. Of those, nearly 19,100 were “pro,” 61,240 were “con” and 315 were “other.”
That dwarfs the prior record-holder.
Last session’s SB 5798, which would have revised the state’s 1% property-tax cap, saw more than 45,170 sign-ins; 2,150 were “pro,” 42,865 were “con” and nearly 160 were “other,” according to data obtained in the request.
For the income tax, 203 people signed in wishing to testify: 76 “pro,” 119 “con” and eight “other,” records show. The property tax proposal saw 308 people signed in wishing to testify: 18 “pro,” 288 “con” and two “other.”
Although a claim circulated that bots may have been to blame for the large number of the anti-SB 6346 sign-ins, Senate Minority Leader John Braun told reporters Tuesday that there’s no evidence to support it, and there’s a system in place to stop that from happening. The Centralia Republican said there was a relatively small percentage of duplicates in both the pro and con camps.
Braun said the general populace has no faith that this income tax would only ever apply to high earners.
House Republican Deputy Leader Chris Corry of Yakima added that certain comments made during the hearing indicate that “this won’t last.”
“This will not be a millionaire’s tax for long,” he said.
Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen, a Seattle Democrat and the bill’s prime sponsor, said at Friday’s hearing that the proposal only deals with those with at least $1 million in income — but that lawmakers can’t bind Legislatures moving ahead.
“I suspect that in the future, we all want to make sure that our successors will have the flexibility to respond to the challenges that they see in front of them,” he said.
By some other metrics, however, the tax on high earners is quite popular.
On Tuesday, organizers behind a “millionaires tax” rally reported that more than 800 advocates showed up in support of the bill. Invest in Washington Now, a group that backs progressive revenue measures, has cited recent polling suggesting that roughly 6 in 10 residents support an income tax on millionaires.
The Senate Democratic Caucus has noted that bottom-20%-income households pay a larger share of their earnings in taxes — nearly 14% — while the top 1% of earners pay 4.1%.
House Speaker Laurie Jinkins, a Tacoma Democrat, told rallygoers Tuesday that for a century, the poorest Washingtonians have “been holding up everything.”
“I feel confident that with you walking with me and with other members who are really working on this bill,” she said, “we will be able to walk across the finish line, get this to the governor and have the support of the people in Washington state.”
SB 6346 passed out of committee Monday and will be debated on the upper chamber’s floor in the coming days. The 2026 session ends March 12.
This story was originally published February 11, 2026 at 11:19 AM.
.jpg)