{"id":3099,"date":"2026-02-20T17:07:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T00:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/bateman\/?p=3099"},"modified":"2026-02-20T17:07:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T00:07:14","slug":"millionaires-tax-passes-the-senate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/bateman\/2026\/02\/20\/millionaires-tax-passes-the-senate\/","title":{"rendered":"Millionaires Tax passes the Senate!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear friends and neighbors,<\/p>\n

I\u2019m thrilled to report the Senate passed the Millionaires Tax<\/a> off of the Senate floor on a 27-22 vote! This is an exciting move forward for funding schools, health care, and essential services, paid for by asking households making more than $1 million per year to pay just a little bit more in taxes.<\/p>\n

Less than 1% of households in the state would pay the\u00a0Millionaires\u00a0Tax. It would levy a 9.9% tax on income above $1 million \u2013 households with incomes of $1 million and below would pay nothing.\u00a0The Department of Revenue says that there are only 167 people in our entire legislative district who would pay this tax.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s\u00a0estimated the\u00a0Millionaires\u00a0Tax would generate $3.7 billion annually, which will fund critical services like public schools, higher education, early learning and\u00a0child care, health care, and other services Washington families rely on \u2013 especially those cut by President Trump and Congressional Republicans as a part of the H.R. 1 bill. The bill also includes the biggest tax cut for small businesses in our state\u2019s history and makes sales tax reductions that will lower costs for all Washingtonians.<\/p>\n

I know this is an important bill and that the people are with us. More than 60% of Washingtonians, and more than 70% of the 22nd<\/sup> District, voted to support our capital gains tax to fund child care, early learning and school construction just two years ago. But it\u2019s popular around the state, too \u2013 32 out of 39 counties supported the capital gains tax, and\u00a0polling shows\u00a0<\/a>that more than 60% of the people of the state support this new proposal.<\/p>\n

This is the time to act, and I\u2019m glad that the Senate passed this bill. We have tremendous momentum for progressive tax reform and doing the right thing for the students, families, and communities of Washington.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/em><\/p>\n

Children\u2019s Day is an annual tradition when legislators and staff bring children to the Senate to visit and learn about the Legislature. It\u2019s fun having a bunch of little ones join us on the floor!<\/em><\/p>\n

Housing Committee Action<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019re back to the phase of session focused on committee action. My role as chair of the Senate Housing Committee is to review the housing legislation passed over to the Senate by the House and keep the good bills moving through our process. I\u2019m happy to say the House joined us in some great work on housing this year!<\/p>\n

HB 2266<\/a> helps us build permanent supportive housing and emergency shelters to prevent homelessness and get people off of the streets. Bringing people inside is an essential step for folks to get their feet back under themselves, and we need more places for homeless people to go that aren\u2019t on the street, in parks, or on the side of the road.<\/p>\n

HB 2418<\/a> streamlines and speeds up permitting for local housing development, cutting red\u00a0tape\u00a0and lowering costs to build. That means we can build housing more cheaply and have more affordable options for families.<\/p>\n

HB 1859<\/a> supports religious organizations that want to build affordable housing for low and very\u00a0low-income\u00a0families on their land.<\/p>\n

The House is doing this same process with all the Senate bills I\u2019ve spent the last several weeks working on. Soon, we\u2019ll reconcile any differences between the House and Senate versions and get them to the governor\u2019s desk to be signed into law!<\/p>\n

Rallying with Planned Parenthood<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/em><\/p>\n

With my friend, Rep. Debra Lekanoff, at the Planned Parenthood rally<\/em><\/p>\n

I was honored to join Planned Parenthood on a rainy Monday to rally supporters of two important bills I sponsored this year \u2013 SB 5917<\/a>, to allow for the distribution of tens of thousands of state-owned mifepristone pills that are essential to medication abortions so patients who need them can get them, and SB 6182<\/a>, to guarantee a permanent funding source for Planned Parenthood and other reproductive health clinics.<\/p>\n

Here in the Washington State Legislature, we are championing the right to abortion and access to every kind of reproductive health care available. We want to ensure Washington state is a shining star for abortion rights throughout the country. Passing these bills helps make sure we don\u2019t go backwards and Washington can continue being a leader for reproductive rights.<\/p>\n

Next week, we\u2019ll see the budget proposals for 2026 from both the House and the Senate \u2013 one of the key steps toward wrapping up our work this session. I\u2019ll let you know what I see in those that impacts our district the most and the final steps we\u2019re taking toward Sine Die, the end of the legislative session. In the meantime, you can reach me any time at Jessica.Bateman@leg.wa.gov<\/a>. Thanks so much for reading and for your engagement in this process!<\/p>\n

-Jess<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear friends and neighbors, I\u2019m thrilled to report the Senate passed the Millionaires Tax off of the Senate floor on a 27-22 vote! This is an exciting move forward for funding schools, health care, and essential services, paid for by asking households making more than $1 million per year to pay just a little bit more in taxes. Less than 1% of households in the state would pay the\u00a0Millionaires\u00a0Tax. It would levy a 9.9% tax on income above $1 million \u2013 households with incomes of $1 million and below would pay nothing.\u00a0The Department of Revenue says that there are only…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":1240,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-news"],"yoast_head":"\nMillionaires Tax passes the Senate! - Sen. 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