A state lawmaker in Washington has proposed legislation that seeks to collect billions in taxes from major corporations.
On Tuesday, Democratic state Representative Shaun Scott is set to unveil the bill, which could target firms such as Amazon and Microsoft.
The bill could offset tax changes pushed by President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Trump signed into law in July. Scott said the legislation had strained Washington’s budget and public services.
The proposed Well Washington Fund seeks to boost public sector spending at “the same time that the Trump administration is defunding them,” Scott said.
Newsweek has contacted Washington state Republicans for comment by email outside office hours.
Why It Matters
Scott’s proposal to tax the state’s largest corporations to protect state services from federal cuts comes amid a larger debate about taxation, with Washington Democrats considering an income tax on the wealthy.
The bill is also likely to prompt debate among lawmakers, business leaders and advocacy groups about whether offsetting Trump’s tax bill by targeting major companies could hurt competitiveness and job growth.
What To Know
On Tuesday, Scott said in a statement that he would announce the Well Washington Fund revenue proposal at a news conference on the steps of the legislative building in Olympia.
He said the bill’s goal is to protect health care, higher education and housing from the “severe impacts of H.R. 1,” the federal tax package known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Scott’s bill would seek to impose a 5 percent tax on payroll expenses on workers earning more than $125,000 a year at the largest private employers in the state, although large health care and social services providers are likely to be exempt.
This would be a statewide version of a Seattle tax on companies with large payrolls and high-earning employees, known as JumpStart. Scott has the backing of representatives of the Washington Federation of State Employees, the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU 775, and pro-tax groups, the Washington State Standard reported.
The proposal is also backed by state Senator Rebecca Saldana, a Seattle Democrat who pushed a similar bill in the chamber that stalled last session.
However, Republicans have criticized the proposal, saying it disincentivizes businesses from staying in the state. Deputy Leader of the House Republican Caucus Chris Corry told Komo News that it was “a bad idea,” and that JumpStart caused companies such as Amazon to look elsewhere for office space.
Max Martin, the government affairs director of the Association of Washington Business, said the proposal risked making the state less affordable and less competitive.
“Legislators just passed the largest tax increase in state history, and the No. 1 concern of Washington employers right now is the state’s overall tax burden,” Martin said in a statement, per Komo News. “This will only add to it.”
What People Are Saying
Democratic state Representative Shaun Scott told Komo News: “The Well Washington Fund is about investing in critical silos of public sector spending at the same time that the Trump administration is defunding them.”
The SEIU 775 union said in a statement: “The state needs to fix its upside-down tax system and ask the wealthy to pay their fair share to protect these critical services.”
Max Martin, the government affairs director of the Association of Washington Business, said in a statement: “We can’t make Washington more affordable by making it more expensive.”
Chris Corry, the deputy leader of the House Republican Caucus, told Komo News: “This is just one more reason why businesses will think twice about staying here and will definitely think twice before starting here.”
What Happens Next
Scott said that if passed and signed into law, the bill would take effect on July 1, 2026. However, the legislation is likely to face hurdles and lobbying from businesses and Republicans, although the debate about taxing the wealthy will be a priority for Senate Democrats in the state, The Reflector reported.
Democratic state Representative April Berg, who chairs the House Finance Committee, told the outlet she had not seen the draft legislation, but that more revenue bills were likely to emerge. The Washington State Legislature’s next session begins on January 12.