The Millionaire’s Tax: Will it be a Win for the People or a Gift for the Corporate Lobby?

When our progressive revenue advocacy coalition, Tech4Taxes, sat down with key lawmakers during the legislative interim, we weren't just there to talk policy; we were there to witness a high-stakes trade. Behind closed doors, the "not-so-secret" secret of the Millionaire’s Tax was laid bare: This bill wasn't born from a sudden burst of progressive conscience. It was a carefully balanced proposal from corporations.

In those meetings, it became clear that the corporate lobby had offered Democratic leadership a deal: Stop the momentum for the Wealth Tax and the Payroll Excise Tax (the Well Washington Fund), and in exchange, the lobby would "not actively oppose" a high-earners income tax, like the Millionaire’s Tax.

Democratic leadership, apparently prone to falling for the oldest tricks in the book, took the bait. This session, we’ve watched as Senate leadership has bulldozed the bill through their chamber, ignoring legitimate concerns about the bill, as if they were Amazon employees on a deadline. Even Brad Smith, Microsoft’s usually vocal President, has been uncharacteristically silent. 

When the people who usually fight every cent of progress are quiet, you know a deal has been struck.

But the corporate lobby wasn't satisfied with just killing the Wealth Tax. They wanted a bonus. Included in the original text of the Millionaire’s Tax bill was a massive $500 million carve-out: an early rollback of the 0.5% B&O surcharge on corporations raking in more than $250 million a year.

You cannot call a bill "progressive" while simultaneously handing a half-billion-dollar tax break to the wealthiest entities on the planet.

Thankfully, some leaders are refusing to follow the corporate script. Champions like Shaun Scott and a coalition of House Reps who signed a public letter of disagreement are finally pushing back. They recognized that a "Millionaire’s Tax" with a corporate rebate is just a corporate subsidy in a "tax the rich" trench coat.

The good news? On Friday, the House Finance Committee did their jobs. They passed Scott’s amendment to axe that corporate carve-out. For a fleeting moment, the Millionaire's Tax started looking like a tax of the people, for the people—instead of a gift for the corporate lobby.

But the fight isn't over. For this to become law, the versions of the bill passed in the House and Senate must match exactly. The corporate lobby is already circling, and they want their $500 million back. The next step is ensuring that the current version of the bill—the one without the corporate kickback—is the final version that hits the Governor’s desk, without any additional harmful amendments.

We can’t change how this bill started, but we can decide how it ends. We have the opportunity to pass a truly progressive tax that asks those at the very top to contribute their fair share without handing a rebate to the largest corporations on earth.

Legislators have a choice: follow the lead of champions like Shaun Scott and keep this bill clean, or revert to the backroom deals of the interim. Let’s make sure they choose the people. 

Email and call your State Representative and let them know how Washingtonians want the Millionaire’s Tax to go. Keep the amendment. Pass the House version. Let’s finally get this right.