Session report from Sen. Derek Stanford - making the tax code farier

From Senator Derek Stanford, 1st Legislative District

I’m pleased to share that the Senate passed the Millionaires Tax this week to help fund schools, health care, and cut taxes for working families and small businesses.

Our broken tax code asks the most of those who can least afford it. Senate Bill 6346 begins to fix that by imposing a 9.9% tax on annual income over $1 million; households with incomes of $1 million and below would pay nothing (so a person making $1.2 million in a year will pay the tax only on $200,000). 

The wealthiest Washingtonians who would pay this tax just received a large, permanent tax break from the Trump administration (thanks to H.R. 1) funded in part by health care cuts.

The current version of the bill includes a tax cut for small businesses by doubling our small business tax credit, the elimination of the sales tax on personal care products, and an expansion of the Working Families Tax Credit to more people.

The bill now moves to the House of Representatives where it will likely change. There is still a lot of work to do before it can head to the governor’s desk for his signature, but Democrats in the House and Senate, as well as the governor, share the goal of fixing our upside-down tax code.

Another bill to help make our tax code fairer passed the Senate this week. Senate Bill 6162 expands the senior property tax relief program, creates a standard $7,500 deduction for those who qualify, and consolidates the state property tax into one part. This is an opportunity to help keep seniors, those with disabilities, and disabled veterans in their homes and streamline property taxes statewide.

Attend our telephone town hall on Monday September 23, 2026 for more information.