‘The pie is not fixed, Bob’: Curley dismisses Ferguson’s bid for millionaire income tax

Washington Governor Bob Ferguson is considering a 9.9% income tax on individuals with an adjusted gross income of more than $1 million that he believes would help shore up a multi-billion-dollar budget shortfall expected in 2026.

John Curley, host of “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio, stated that he wouldn’t mind the income tax, but called for Washington to decrease taxes in other areas to balance out the proposition.

“A lot of states have income taxes, but don’t have the sales tax at 10%. Bring that down, get rid of it, or move it down to 3% or 4%, but you can’t have a 10% sales tax and an income tax, one or the other. You do one or the other, I’d be fine with that,” Curley said.

Ferguson argued that Washington’s tax structure is worsening income inequality, a claim Curley dismissed.

“This is the idea that when one guy makes a million, the other person loses because the pie is fixed, so there’s only a certain amount. Then, when the rich guy grabs a great big chunk of that pie, that means there’s less of the pie for anybody else. That’s the income inequality idea,” Curley said. “The guy who’s making all the money is probably hiring a bunch of people and paying a bunch of money. The pie is not fixed, Bob. The economy grows, and as it grows bigger, people are benefiting. You have this idea that if the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. No, not the case.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to John Curley weekday afternoons from 3 – 7 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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