Gov. Bob Ferguson endorses millionaires' tax on high earners, unveils austerity-centric supplemental operating budget
Washington’s chief executive is ready to make a big push to progressively rebalance the state’s upside down tax code over the long term, despite favoring cuts and a rainy day fund withdrawal as the main maneuvers for closing a serious shortfall in the current biennial operating budget. That’s our takeaway from today’s big budget rollout in Olympia, where the governor spoke for almost twenty-five minutes before answering questions from members of the Capitol press corps.
“The inequities of our state’s tax structure have been exacerbated by [Donald] Trump’s massive tax cuts for the wealthy — an unprecedented upward transfer of wealth that makes the rich even wealthier while hardworking people are overburdened,” Governor Ferguson said, noting the state ranks next to last for tax fairness. “We must rebalance this unfair system and return money and cut taxes for working families and small business owners who have been hit hard by the affordability crisis.”
Because implementing a millionaires’ tax on high earners would take several years, Ferguson did not include it as a funding source in his proposed 2026 supplemental operating budget, the third of three supplemental budgets he was statutorily obligated to develop by the end of today. In odd years, Washington State adopts budgets for two-year cycles called bienniums, but in even years, those budgets get adjusted, which is why they’re called supplementals. The Legislature will meet for just sixty days in 2026, convening January 12th and adjourning March 13th.
Ferguson did propose repealing two tax breaks that could secure additional revenue for the state in the short term. One makes it cheaper for big tech companies to refurbish data centers and the other benefits prescription drug wholesalers. Ending them would raise an estimated $145 million in the 2025–27 biennium.
https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2025/12/governor-bob-ferguson-endorses-millionaires-tax-on-high-earners-unveils-austerity-centric-supplemental-operating-budget.html