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.

Highlights

• Why Washington’s tax system is considered among the most regressive in the United States
• The case for and against a tax targeting high-income households
• What the data actually suggests about people and businesses leaving high-tax states
• The constitutional challenge that could determine whether this policy survives
• How revenue volatility creates instability for budgeting and long-term planning
• Why small businesses and working families sit at the center of the current system’s tensions
• The idea of a comprehensive “grand bargain” to redesign how Washington raises revenue

About the Hosts

• Greg Amrofell is the creator and co-host of Pacific Time and an entrepreneur focused on big “what if” questions about the future of the West Coast.
• Ashley Brown is co-host of Pacific Time, a strategist and policy thinker with a deep interest in governance, political systems, and how institutional design shapes economic outcomes.

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Spicy Questions 🌶️

• What would make for a dramatically simpler and more equitable tax system on the West Coast?
• What if Washington State shed the chip on its shoulder about the weather, embraced the advantages (clean air, clean water, gorgeous landscapes, cheap hydro power, and progressive values), and stopped assuming it needed tax advantages to persuade businesses to start here and pro athletes to play here?