Pacific Time: West Coast What-Ifs

Washington just passed a “millionaire’s tax”—but the real story is what it reveals about a broken system.

For decades, Washington State has operated the most regressive tax system in the country. High sales taxes, heavy reliance on consumption, and no income tax have created a structure where lower-income households pay a larger share of their income than the wealthy.

Now, lawmakers have approved a 9.9% tax on income above $1 million. Supporters call it a step toward fairness. Critics warn it could push wealth and investment elsewhere. But there’s a catch: the tax won’t take effect until 2028, and it won’t generate revenue until 2029.

So what just happened?

In this episode of Pacific Time, Greg Amrofell and Ashley Brown step back from the headlines to examine a deeper question: not whether this tax is good policy, but whether Washington’s entire tax system is built for the modern economy.

The conversation moves beyond the usual talking points to explore the underlying tensions shaping tax debates across the West Coast. Washington is a fast-growing, innovation-driven state, yet its revenue system is volatile and structurally imbalanced. Efforts to fix that imbalance tend to oscillate between politically popular ideas and economically uncertain outcomes.

What emerges is a more fundamental challenge. Can a state meaningfully improve fairness by targeting a small group of high earners? Or does real reform require a broader reset—one that rethinks how revenue is raised altogether?

This episode considers the possibility of a larger “grand bargain”: a modern, broad-based income tax paired with reductions in regressive consumption taxes. It’s a path that would be difficult, politically risky, and likely require constitutional change—but one that could offer a more stable and equitable foundation for the future.

Seen in that light, the millionaire’s tax is less a solution than a signal. It reflects a growing recognition that the current system isn’t working—even if consensus on what comes next remains elusive. It also points to the very similar debate taking shape in California and around the country.