John Braun commentary: No matter what income tax backers say, there’s no free lunch
Friday, March 20, 2026
Before the new state income tax passed by Democrats was even proposed as legislation, many of us who oppose such a tax predicted the supporters would engage in a game of bait-and-switch. They’d market an income tax as applying only to the wealthy, knowing all along the real goal would be to have everyone pay.
Do they think the people of Washington are fools, I asked — and now that the income tax is through the Legislature and awaiting Gov. Bob Ferguson’s formal endorsement, it’s clearer than ever that the answer is yes.
An early hint came when the prime sponsor of the Senate version of the income tax bill was reminded about the state law prohibiting any income tax, created by the Legislature’s passage of Initiative 2111 in 2024. No one should take that law “super-seriously,” he replied, famously calling the income-tax ban a “pie crust promise — easily made, easily broken.”
In line with polling that found a “millionaires” tax received a friendlier reception than an “income” tax, Democrats hung that label on the 9.9% income tax introduced Feb. 4 as Senate Bill 6346.
When that bill came to the Senate budget committee and later to the floor of the Senate chamber, my fellow Republicans and I tried to get the supporters to make the policy match the title.
Putting the tax rate and the $1 million deduction into the state constitution would protect those with lower incomes, we said. Oh no, Democrat leaders replied, we can’t tell future legislators what to do or take away their flexibility.
Stop trying to fool people.
Washington’s constitution has been amended many times to make policies more permanent than state law can. A perfect example is the 14th amendment, passed in 1930, which has protected us from a state income tax for 90-plus years. The “rainy-day” fund amendment from 2007 is another.
After Gov. Ferguson signaled the income tax bill might have to wait until next legislative session, Democrats came back with new promises that won him over.
In announcing his support for the updated bill, the governor said he was especially pleased to see funding had been added for universal free school lunch and breakfast.
There’s one glaring problem: while the income tax bill passed by Democrats ties 5% of the revenue to early learning, for instance, there is no similar allocation in Senate Bill 6346 for free school meals. The lone reference, on page two, merely says the Legislature “intends” to provide free meals.
The new state operating budget doesn’t get there either. Page 452 of Senate Bill 5998 has only this requirement: Forecast how many students would participate in a free breakfast-lunch program, and use that forecast when budgeting for the 2027-29 cycle.
To be clear, then, there’s no free lunch — or breakfast — in the new state income tax. Intent alone doesn’t count.
This is a good place to also note that legislators expanded access to free school meals as recently as 2023. Perhaps that’s why the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction reported 70% of Washington kids could already eat for free at school this previous academic year.
These facts aren’t stopping income tax supporters from using free meals for all students as a talking point as they try to fool the people of Washington into thinking this disastrous tax policy has any merit.
It was no surprise that Ferguson repeated the myth about free lunches when he was interviewed on the session’s final day by the TVW public affairs network.
What was more revealing was his response when asked what he would do if legislators came to him in a year or two with a bill to lower the deduction and apply the income tax to more people.
“I would oppose that,” the governor said. But instead of acknowledging how it’s fair for people to be concerned that the tax could expand, as taxes generally do, he then went on the attack, saying it’s a weak argument for critics to focus on something that’s not actually in the legislation.
Remember, this was moments after Ferguson focused on something that’s not actually in the legislation — meaning funding for free meals.
Taxpayers can easily go online to page 13 of SB 6436 and see for themselves how the $1 million deduction is in a single, easily amended sentence. They’re aware of how the income-tax backers can’t be trusted, between their breaking of the I-2111 promise and their complete lack of interest in permanently locking down the current deduction.
The people of Washington aren’t fools. They know there is no such thing as a free lunch and that an income tax on anyone is bound to become an income tax on everyone. This is not how our state does better.
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Sen. John Braun of Centralia serves the 20th Legislative District, which spans parts of four counties from Yelm to Vancouver. He became Senate Republican leader in 2020.