‘I’m seething’: WA Policy Center researcher irate over new tax proposals

As the Washington Legislature considers several new tax increases in 2026, one of the most notable is a proposed millionaire’s tax that would impose a 9.9% levy on income exceeding $1 million.

Paul Guppy, a senior researcher at the Washington Policy Center, criticized what he called a “constant pattern” of the Washington government taking more taxpayers’ money. He also criticized Democratic Rep. Laurie Jenkins’ recent statements for blaming the state’s current financial woes on President Donald Trump.

“It’s maddening how avaricious they are in Olympia for our money, and it is a constant pattern. I try to remain calm so I can convey accurate information, but inside I’m seething,” Guppy said on “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “[Jenkins] statement would be accurate if she took out the name Donald Trump and put in the name Laurie Jenkins, because she and the other Democrat leadership are responsible for what’s happening.”

Guppy brought up the many tax increases that Washington Democrats have approved in recent years, urging legislators to take accountability for policies that have made “life harder for the rest of us” instead of shifting blame to Trump.

“This really does make my blood boil. Lawmakers never mentioned what their role is in creating the problems that they complain about,” Guppy said. “They talk about affordability and inflation, but Laurie Jenkins and Washington Governor Bob Ferguson just passed a $9 billion tax increase that’s kicking in. They raised the B&O tax, the gas tax, and passed the Carbon Commitment Act, which adds about 40 to 50 cents per gallon of gasoline.

“They have all these policies that make life harder for the rest of us, and then they have the temerity to turn around and point to a president who’s 3,000 miles away,” he continued. “It would be a nice change if they stepped up and took responsibility for their own governance. But of course, they realize that when you have one party control, pretty soon you run out of people to blame. So that’s why they’re pointing the finger at Trump.”

KIRO host John Curley asked whether Washington voters would approve a tax targeting “rich people” in the state, and Guppy revealed that state taxpayers are smart enough to know that any income tax would soon fall on all taxpayers one way or another.

“I think people are smart enough to realize that an income tax, even if it started at a billion dollars, before too long, would be hitting the rest of us,” Guppy said. “We know that a state income tax means everybody is going to end up paying it. They may call it a millionaire’s tax, but they might as well call it the working man tax, because the same thing happened with the federal income tax. The government just loves to expand sources of revenue. Before long, that’ll be a tax on the rest of us. And that’s exactly the plan, I think, that the Democrats have.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

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