Washington State · Olympia's new income tax
They stripped the tax shield off your pension.
For more than 50 years, Washington law said the pensions of police officers, firefighters and teachers were exempt from any state tax. In March, the Legislature's income tax bill rewrote 11 retirement laws to take that promise away. Lawmakers were offered a vote to protect public pensions. They voted it down.
Pledge YES on I-645
Protect the pensions of Washington's police, firefighters and teachers.
Read the fine print
One sentence. Eleven laws. Every public pension.
The income tax is Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6346, signed March 30, 2026. Buried in Part VIII, it added the same sentence to the retirement law for nearly every public pension system in Washington. Here is what it did to the law that covers police and firefighters.
The old promise is still on the books. A new subsection now says it doesn't apply to the income tax.
(1) … the right of a person to a retirement allowance, disability allowance, or death benefit, to the return of accumulated contributions … are hereby exempt from any state, county, municipal, or other local tax, and shall not be subject to execution, garnishment, attachment, the operation of bankruptcy or insolvency laws, or other processes of law whatsoever …
(2)–(3) [insurance deductions; child support and court-ordered exceptions]
(4) Subsection (1) of this section does not exempt any pension or other benefit received under this chapter from tax under Title 82A RCW.
Who lost protection
The people who kept their promise to us.
They took lower pay for a secure retirement, on the state's word that it would never be taxed. SB 6346 broke that word for every one of these systems.
Law Enforcement Officers' and Fire Fighters' Retirement System, plus the older Firemen's Pension Fund.
RCW 41.26.053Teachers' Retirement System and the School Employees' Retirement System, Plans 2 and 3.
RCW 41.32.052 · 41.35.100Corrections officers, juvenile detention staff and other public safety employees.
RCW 41.37.090State and local government workers across Washington, including Plan 3 members.
RCW 41.40.052The Judicial Retirement System and older judges' fund, plus Washington State Patrol retirees.
RCW 2.10.180 · 2.12.090 · 2.14.100Washington's protection for IRAs and 401(k)s was rewritten so it no longer shields them from income tax collection.
RCW 6.15.020How it happened
From promise to fine print
- 1969The promiseLEOFF law exempts police and fire pensions from "any state, county, municipal, or other local tax."
- Mar 9, 2026Pension protection rejectedHouse amendment to keep public pensions out of the income tax fails, 52–44.
- Mar 30, 2026SB 6346 signed9.9% income tax becomes law. 11 pension statutes amended.
- Oct 16, 2026Ballots mailI-645 is on your ballot.
- Nov 3, 2026Election DayYES repeals the tax and the pension carve-out.
- Jan 1, 2028Tax starts if I-645 failsFirst payments due in 2029.
"It's only for millionaires"
Then why did they need your pension?
Today the tax starts above $1 million. But that number is not in the constitution. Lawmakers rejected a proposal to lock the $1 million deduction and the 9.9% rate into the constitution. Any future Legislature can lower the line with a simple majority, and the pension carve-out is already written and waiting.
If the tax was truly only for millionaires, there was no reason to rewrite the law protecting a retired firefighter's pension. They did it anyway.
Set in statute. Not locked by the constitution. Lowered by majority vote.
"I personally absolutely do." Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen, on whether he supports a universal income tax, as reported in the Everett Herald, Sept. 29, 2026.
What a YES vote does
YES on I-645 puts the protection back.
Repeals the income tax
Wipes out the 9.9% tax from SB 6346, including the pension provisions that stripped the exemption from 11 retirement laws, before it ever takes effect.
Restores the shield
With Title 82A gone, the original promise stands again: public pensions exempt from any state, county, municipal or local tax.
Bans income taxes
Prohibits the state and local governments from taxing individual income, so this can't come back through the side door.
I-645 does not touch the tax credits passed alongside the income tax, including the expanded Working Families Tax Credit and the small-business B&O credit.
The pledge
Stand with the people who stand for us.
I pledge to vote YES on I-645 to restore the pension protections Washington promised our police, firefighters and teachers.
Add your name. We'll send you a reminder when ballots arrive and on Election Day.
Pledge YES on I-645
Protect the pensions of Washington's police, firefighters and teachers.
Straight answers
Questions
Will my pension be taxed in 2028?
Under SB 6346 as written today, the tax applies to income above a $1 million standard deduction, and a married couple shares one deduction. Most retirees would not owe in 2028. The danger is what the law already did: it removed the exemption, so any future cut to the $1 million line reaches your pension automatically. YES on I-645 removes that risk entirely.
What exactly did SB 6346 change?
It added a subsection to the retirement statute for PERS, LEOFF, TRS, SERS, PSERS, the judicial systems, the Firemen's Pension Fund and others, saying the long-standing tax exemption "does not exempt any pension or other benefit … from tax under Title 82A RCW." It also changed RCW 6.15.020 so IRAs and 401(k)s are no longer shielded from income tax collection.
Didn't anyone try to stop it?
Yes. On March 9, 2026, an amendment on the House floor would have struck the pension section and excluded public pensions from the income tax. It failed 52–44.
What does I-645 do?
It repeals the 9.9% tax on individual income over $1 million enacted by SB 6346, prohibits state and local taxes on individual income, and defines "income" in law. It takes effect 30 days after voters approve it, before the income tax would begin.
Opponents say I-645 cuts school funding. Is that true?
The income tax isn't collected until 2029, so no current school dollar depends on it. The No campaign estimates the tax would raise about $3.5 billion a year for schools, health care and higher education. Supporters of I-645 argue the state has a spending problem, not a revenue problem, and that public employees shouldn't pay for it with their retirement security.
When do I vote?
Ballots mail October 16, 2026. Return yours by mail (postmarked by November 3) or at a drop box by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
- RCW 41.26.053, Washington State Legislature
- House Office of Program Research, Summary of Initiative 26-645
- ESSB 6346 House Amendment 467 (Griffey), not adopted 3/9/2026
- Everett Herald, "Your pension is in the tax because $1 million will not stay $1 million," Sept. 29, 2026
- MyNorthwest, I-645 sponsor on pension protections