Our legislative agenda this year reflects our commitment to preserving and strengthening essential state services that Washingtonians rely on, like affordable health care and education, and to lay the groundwork for the next decade with a major step towards a fairer tax code.
Progressive Revenue
Our state budget supports everyday essentials that we all rely on and value. Yet, we have one of the most upside-down tax systems in the nation, where working people pay far more of their income in taxes than millionaires.
We’re struggling with overcrowded classrooms, skyrocketing health care costs, and funding cuts from Washington, D.C. Our tax code will better serve all Washingtonians and protect against cuts using popular, pragmatic progressive revenue solutions.
Millionaire’s Tax: Taxing incomes over $1 million at a rate of 9.9% will bring in roughly $3.7 billion in revenue each year to fund K-12 education, higher education, and health care. This tax affects only 22,000 households earning over $1 million in income each year and recaptures some of the tax cuts from H.R. 1, which provides the richest 1% with an average tax break of $90,850. This will rebalance our tax code and increase affordability by funding the needs of everyday Washingtonians.
Additional progressive revenue bills we’re supporting
- The Well Washington Fund (HB 2100) will bring in $5.5 billion every two years by enacting a 5% tax on employer payroll expenses above $125,000. This would only be paid by Washington’s largest 2% of businesses. This will not tax workers and will not increase taxes withheld on employees’ paychecks.
- A Wealth Tax (SB 5797) will put approximately $3.0 billion directly into the state’s Education Legacy Trust every two years, ensuring public education for Washington children is well-funded by taxing publicly traded stocks and bonds above $50 million in value – affecting just 4,300 mega-millionaires and billionaires. This modest .5% tax on the top fraction of wealth in our state.
- Adjusting Higher Education Funding (HB 2098) will generate about $2 billion in revenue for the Workforce Education and Investment Account (WEIA) by removing the cap on multi-billion-dollar corporations’ contributions to this specific account.
Health Care
High and unpredictable health care costs are forcing thousands of Washingtonians to go uninsured, skip treatment, and cut medication doses — and it’s only getting worse. Costs are far outpacing inflation, what people can afford, and what states can subsidize.
We are facing the loss of billions of dollars in federal health care funding over the next decade and over 450,000 Washingtonians will lose access to health care as a result of federal policy changes. We’re going to do something about it.
Apple Health Employer Assessment (SB 6173): Everyone should be able to access affordable health care, regardless of where they live or work. Washington is facing the loss of billions of dollars in federal funding over the next decade. Meanwhile, many of our state’s largest and most profitable corporations employ tens of thousands of workers who are enrolled in Medicaid. These corporations also benefit from federal tax breaks and rely on taxpayers to subsidize employee health care costs.
Senate Bill 6173 would establish a fee paid by corporations that would help ensure that wealthy firms contribute what they owe toward the health care costs of their employees, while protecting Washington’s health care system and promoting greater economic equity.
Corporate Practice of Medicine (SB 5387/HB 1657): The dangers of private equity influence on health care are well documented. Private equity hospital profiteering has resulted in dangerous conditions, closures, higher prices, and reduced access to services.
Senate Bill 5387 codifies corporate practice of medicine protections to keep patient health decisions in the hands of licensed clinicians rather than external financial investors. By prohibiting corporations from taking over medical practice decisions, this bill helps protect patients and doctors from corporate investor influence – like when private equity firms pressure clinics to maximize profits or cut corners.
Additional health care bills we’re supporting
- Health consolidation transparency will strengthen the Attorney General’s oversight of health care market consolidation by expanding review to include additional types of transactions, such as private equity acquisitions, and by adding transparency requirements to help ensure public awareness.
- Stronger medical debt protections will keep families from exhausting their savings, skipping essentials like food, heat, and housing, and enduring aggressive collection practices to pay high medical bills.
- The Cascade Care Savings premium assistance program helps over 100,000 Washingtonians afford health care coverage, but funding is set to expire in 2026. If funding is not renewed, thousands of people will likely drop coverage and suffer from unmet care needs.
Paid Leave
With over 1 million claims and $7 billion in benefits paid out to Washington workers since its inception in 2020, Paid Family & Medical Leave has become our state’s landmark social insurance program. This session, we will be supporting legislation that will help strengthen the implementation and administrative process to ensure workers across Washington can continue to take paid time off to recover from a serious illness or surgery, bond with a newly born or adopted child, or care for an ill family member.
Paid leave bills we’re supporting
- Modernizing PFML premium calculation (Senate Bill 5292) will help premiums stay current with best practices. Currently, the Paid Family & Medical Leave premium rate formula is calculated using past data, rather than using future projections.
- An IRS fix (House Bill 2345) will preserve existing Paid Family & Medical Leave premium levels for employers and workers by updating the premium payment structure to comply with recent IRS guidance on the taxability of premium contributions.