(The Center Square) – Washington State Supreme Court Chief Justice Debra Stephens declined to comment on communications obtained by The Center Square from the State Attorney General’s Office speculating at the time that the state high court might allow a referendum on a new millionaire’s tax to avoid ruling on whether income is property.
The millionaire’s tax enacted this legislative session contained language declaring it “necessary for the support of state government,” a designation that exempts it from referendum under the state constitution. That language was added after Solicitor General Noah Purcell suggested it as a way to prevent a referendum, according to emails obtained by The Center Square.
After Let’s Go Washington filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of State’s Office seeking a referendum, the AGO prepared a draft response obtained by The Center Square that included remarks by Deputy Solicitor General Karl Smith, a former state Supreme Court clerk.
The millionaire tax’s architect Sen. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, told The Center Square that “the court has now said, what we said all along, which is the referendum power does not apply to tax measures, period. It doesn’t matter whether we put language in there or not,”
However, Smith speculated that “giving the People a chance to reject it by referendum might be an attractive option to justices who want to punt on the constitutional question,” referencing 90 year’s of legal rulings declaring income to be property under the state Constitution. As a result, a progressive income tax is considered unconstitutional.
When The Center Square attempted to ask Stephens about Smith’s statement, the chief justice said she couldn’t comment on cases that might appear before the court. When told the statement concerned the lawsuit over a referendum on the tax, which the court has already ruled on, she said “the opinion of the court speaks for itself” and declined to comment further.
Stephens presided over the Monday swearing in ceremony in for Washington’s newest state Supreme Court justice, Theo Angelis, at the Temple of Justice in Olympia. Angelis was appointed by Gov. Bob Ferguson, who previously worked with Angelis at the law firm K&L Gates LLP.
During the ceremony, Stephens told Angelis that “a person’s lived experience, diverse perspectives, they matter in reaching sound decisions, in seeing things that perhaps for some of us we’re hiding in plain sight, because it takes a fresh perspective, and what you bring to the bench will change the character of this bench.”
Let’s Go Washington is now gathering signatures for an income tax repeal initiative, with the aim of having it on the fall 2026 ballot.
Stephens is up for re-election on the Aug. 4, primary.
