WA Gov. Ferguson says state will prevail against ‘millionaires tax’ lawsuit

Former Washington AG sues over ‘millionaires tax’

Another big lawsuit against Washington state's "millionaires tax" is on the horizon, with former Attorney General Rob McKenna at the helm.

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Another big lawsuit against Washington state's new income tax is on the horizon, with former Attorney General Rob McKenna at the helm.

On Thursday, McKenna along with The Citizen Action Defense Fund will file the lawsuit and on the same day hold a press conference addressing questions from reporters.

Governor Ferguson knows the legal fight is coming, and on the day Ferguson signed the "millionaires tax," FOX 13 Seattle asked how he felt about the pending lawsuit from McKenna and the governor got personal.

"I’m very familiar with Rob McKenna. As AG, he was opposite side of many cases we brought, and we never lost a case when Rob litigated the other side, so we feel confident that we'll prevail against him yet again in this lawsuit," Ferguson said.

Big picture view:

At the core of the lawsuit is whether income is considered property, which some Democrats argue that it is not. McKenna says the constitution is clear and that people have a property right to their own income when he testified in front of lawmakers while the legislature was in session.

"As you all know, it isn't the Legislature's role or the state Supreme Court's job to rewrite our Constitution to override a decision, the voters made and have repeatedly reaffirmed," McKenna said.

A former Democrat senator and former State Supreme Court Justice, Phil Talmadge, has joined the fight alongside McKenna. The Citizen Action Defense Fund along naming Talmadge as one of the speakers during Thursday’s press conference.

"If you're going to do a tax on property, you have to apply it uniformly to everybody, and it's capped at 1%. This is not that," Jackson Maynard with CADF said.

The millionaires tax debate dominated the legislative session with the controversial legislation locking lawmakers in debate for a record marathon session before it passed.

Democrats say the tax is needed to address a regressive tax system where the richest are not paying their fair share. Critics say not only is it against the Constitution, but that it will open the door to tax the income of all Washingtonians.

The law taxes 9.9% of income over $1 million, and it’s expected to generate more than $3 billion annually. The tax goes into effect in 2028.

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