The rise of “democratic socialism” in these United States has been of some concern here at ThisIsCommonSense.org. But it is not just in New York where this is happening. In Washington State, the socialists are on a legislative march, aiming to hobble markets with the ostensible goal of helping low-wage workers — but as noted by Paul Jacob last month, things are not going well.
That is, workers are taking the hit.
In addition to minimum wage hikes, there has been the imposition of a seemingly unconstitutional (or somewhat disguised) income tax.
Washington’s constitution, amended in 1930, requires that property be taxed uniformly and at no more than 1 percent of value. In 1933’s Culliton v. Chase, the Washington Supreme Court held that “income is property” under this provision — meaning any income tax is treated as a property tax and must be flat (uniform rate), not graduated. This effectively made a progressive income tax unconstitutional.
So a legislature-introduced graduated income tax has long been considered unconstitutional. Even when 70 percent of voters approved one in a 1932 referendum, the court struck it down in 1933.
The Democrats’ first major crack at the barrier was a 7 percent capital gains tax on profits over $262,000 (later indexed), enacted in 2021. Critics argued it was just an income tax by another name. But in March 2023, the Washington Supreme Court upheld it 7–2, ruling it was an excise tax (a tax on the transaction of selling), not a property tax. This opened a narrow door: certain taxes on income could survive if framed as excise taxes.
On March 30, 2026, Governor Bob Ferguson signed into law a 9.9 percent personal income tax on household earnings above $1 million per year. Since it leaves the first $1 million untouched, only earnings beyond that threshold would be taxed. Projected to raise over $3 billion annually, it is set to take effect January 1, 2028, first payments due in 2029.
Democrats argue that the 2023 capital gains ruling shows the current state Supreme Court is willing to revisit — and potentially overturn — the 1933 Culliton precedent. Their hope? The court will either distinguish the millionaires’ tax as an excise tax (like the capital gains tax) or simply overturn Culliton outright and allow a graduated income tax.
A lawsuit was filed almost immediately after the law was signed, led by former state Attorney General Rob McKenna, arguing the tax “flies in the face of the constitution, of precedent and of voter will.” Opponents also point out that Washington voters have repeatedly rejected income tax ballot measures.
Constitutional or not, the predictable capital flight is now well under way:
Washington’s anti-wealth, anti-capitalist resurgence is almost certainly going to receive further coverage in these pages. Just as it continues to destroy the prosperity of the state’s citizens. Socialism is a destroyer. It doesn’t work doing anything else.
