Strategy Brief: How to Defeat WA's New Income Tax
Olympia just rammed through a brand-new 9.9% state income tax. They slapped a “Millionaire’s Tax” label on it to make it sound like it only hits the ultra-rich, but let’s be clear about what this really means for you in plain English. The reality is that an enormous number of small business owners, family farmers, and independent contractors report their business income on their personal tax returns. This new tax pulls money directly out of the local pass-through businesses that employ your neighbors and sponsor your kid's little league team. When the local roofer, plumber, or diner gets hit with a massive new tax bill, they have no choice but to raise prices on everyday goods and services just to keep the doors open. It hits your family’s wallet immediately at the checkout counter.
We don't have to guess how this story ends; we just have to look at Seattle. For years, city leaders promised that taxing success and penalizing businesses would fund perfectly paved roads and flawless public services. Instead, the money disappeared into a bloated bureaucracy while everyday families were left footing the bill as prices skyrocketed and small shops fled the city limits. Out of state, places like California started with similar high-earner taxes, only to watch job creators flee to places like Texas and Florida. What's worse, once the government builds the machinery to collect an income tax, history shows it’s only a matter of time before they lower the threshold and expand it to your paycheck.
The legislature has packed up and gone home, and the establishment is hoping you’ll just complain online and move on. We aren't going to play their game. We are pivoting to our asymmetric strategy: We are focusing on all 39 counties, doing what they won't, and being where they aren't. We are going to educate our communities, organize at the neighborhood level, and build a vanguard of informed citizens before the state expands this tax to everyone else.
Here's 5 things you can do today!
Talk to Your Local Small Businesses
Next time you visit your favorite local hardware store, mechanic, or restaurant, talk to the owner. Ask them if they file their business taxes as personal income, and make sure they know this new state income tax is designed to hit pass-through businesses. You might be their first warning. If you are a local business owner who will be hit by this, reply to this email with 'BUSINESS' and my team will send you our strategy packet and an official window cling to show your customers you are fighting back.
Control the Neighborhood Conversation
Skip the big national news stories where political operatives yell at each other. Go to your neighborhood Facebook group or Nextdoor app and post a simple, polite question asking how local independent contractors are preparing for the new state income tax. This forces people to realize it’s actually happening right in their backyard.
Write a Plain-English Letter to the Editor
Draft a short, 150-word letter to your local, county-level newspaper. Don’t worry about quoting politicians; just explain in plain English how taxing local small businesses will ultimately raise prices for everyday families right here in our town. Local papers are heavily read by community leaders.
Organize at the Chamber of Commerce
If you are a member of a local Chamber of Commerce, Rotary club, or business networking group, ask for three minutes at the next meeting. Use that time to explain how this "tax on the rich" is actually a backdoor tax on local job creators.
Host a Kitchen Table Briefing
Invite three fellow small business owners or neighbors over for coffee this weekend. Print this brief out and explain how this new income tax machinery is built to eventually roll downhill onto the middle class.
My Challenge to You
You now have the playbook. But having a tangible asset means nothing if you don't run the play. Your next step is to take this off the screen and into the real world.
I am explicitly challenging you to talk to just one neighbor, coworker, or friend about this issue this week. This movement fails if you stay silent and let the establishment control the narrative while they quietly build an income tax bureaucracy.
How to Defeat the Spin on This
The Spin: "This is just a millionaire's tax. It only makes the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share and won't affect everyday working people."
The Reality: "A massive percentage of small businesses and sole proprietors file their business income on their personal taxes. When the state takes nearly 10% from the local roofer or restaurant owner, they have no choice but to raise prices on all of us to survive."
The Spin: "We need this new revenue to fix our state's upside-down tax code and fully fund essential services."
The Reality: "Olympia doesn't have a revenue problem; it has a massive spending addiction. The state budget has exploded over the last decade, yet our roads and schools haven't improved. They are just using this as an excuse to build the permanent physical and legal infrastructure for a statewide income tax on everyone."
If today's brief armed you with a strategy you can use, consider funding the machine that built it.
Thank you for continuing to follow me as I build the machine we need to take WA back. I’ll see you on the campaign trail, but always know you can reach out to me directly by responding to this email.
Josh Penner
State Representative | Defending the 31st. Fighting for WA.
Calling All Allies & Organizations
I want to highlight your good work and help you organize. If you lead a local group, please email me here to coordinate in our weekly meeting. Whether you run a county GOP chapter, a local business advocacy group, or a neighborhood parent coalition, we need to link our efforts together to protect our communities from the ground up.
YOUR CHECKLIST FOR THE WEEK
| ☑ | Execute the Playbook: Take the local actions outlined above and accept the neighbor challenge. |
| ☐ | Report from the Ground: Reply to this email and tell me—What local small business in your town do you think will be hit hardest by a new tax that forces them to raise prices? |
| ☐ | Expand the Network: Forward this email to 3 people who know Washington is worth fighting for. |
| ☐ | Amplify the Strategy: Share this brief directly to your social media feeds. Click here to share |
| ☐ | Fund the Mission: We are building the data infrastructure to execute this strategy statewide. The establishment is funded by dark money; we rely entirely on grassroots investors. Invest in our movement here |