Across the country, Democrats are moving forward with millionaire taxes to tap wealthy taxpayers to address budget shortfalls. We have previously discussed how such wealth taxes are unconstitutional (in my view) in the federal system. However, state constitutions have been interpreted to allow such taxes. More importantly, there is no constitutional barrier to imposing huge increases in income taxes on wealthy taxpayers. That is what just happened in Washington as Democratic legislators seek to reproduce the exodus of wealth from California. Virginia is also moving toward a 10% millionaire’s tax as part of a slew of new taxes introduced after Democrats retook power in Richmond. (They also voted themselves close to a 300% raise).I have long been a critic of such taxes which have proven failures that end up shrinking the tax base by chasing any rational taxpayers out of a state. Democrats often treat high-paying taxpayers as a type of canned hunt, ignoring that both the wealth and the wealthy are mobile.
Take Washington’s massive tax increase. Democrats just approved a 9.9 percent tax on income above $1 million. If you stay in Washington, you’ll pay a combined rate with the top income tax (37 percent) of over 46 percent. It will make Washington the state with the highest tax rate in the United States. With California next door, that is no small feat.
Many taxpayers are joining figures like Jeff Bezos and various businesses heading to low-tax states. Washington is already one of the states with the highest levels of migration out of the state, so Democrats are rushing to offer new reasons to leave.
The solution proposed by some Democratic politicians, like Rep. Ro Khanna, is to call for a national wealth tax that would force the rich to either move out of the country or pony up more money. The problem is that, even if the Supreme Court upholds a wealth tax, it has already been tried with disastrous results. France imposed such taxes on its wealthiest citizens, who promptly left France. Many came to the United States.
Some will not be sticking around to experience that joy of wealth redistribution in Washington state. Starbucks founder Howard Schultz just announced that he is leaving the state that launched his iconic brand. In his letter to Seattle, Schultz wrote “It is our hope that Washington will remain a place for business and entrepreneurship to thrive, creating essential opportunity for those in Seattle and the surrounding areas.” Schultz cited various reasons for leaving, including their “enter[ing] the ‘retirement’ phase of our lives.” However, for top taxpayers in the state, there are fewer and fewer reasons to stay.
Where is Schultz going? You guessed it . . . Florida.
Federalism is grand. We get to witness great and foolish state policies.
From a policy perspective, the debate in Washington state is about the current reliance on the regressive sales tax and the need to implement a progressive tax so that the wealthy “pay their fair share” what ever that means. Heretofore we have not had a state income tax. Because the state finds itself in a financial bind, in part due to its continued welfare and other social programmatic support for illegal aliens, it put a lie to the regressive tax rationale by merely adding on this income tax on the wealthy rather than making this revenue neutral. Governor Ferguson stated that “the new tax must be used to increase eligibility and payments under the state’s Working Families Tax Credit, which is open to low- and middle-income households. It also has to allow for tax relief for the state’s small businesses. And he wants it to bolster K-12 education and reduce sales taxes.” So he wants to increase taxes to improve affordability. And if that is insufficient this new tax is for the children despite the fact that across the state the number of children entering into school is declining. He threw out the sales tax statement in pure distraction mode because there is little chance that the state will actually reduce taxes. As one would expect, the state has foretasted a certain revenue stream. It remains to be seen if the exodus by the wealthy causes those expectations to fall short.
It gets a bit more interesting from a legal perspective. The first obstacle is embedded in the state constitution. Article VII, Section 1 (Tax policy): … “All taxes shall be uniform upon the same class of property within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax and shall be levied and collected for public purposes only. The word “property” as used herein shall mean and include everything, whether tangible or intangible, subject to ownership.” A couple of things jump out. 1) the phrase “all taxes shall be uniform upon the same class of property”, and 2) the Washington state definition of “property” is quite broad.
A warning to those who think that the Washington State Supreme court will object to this law on constitutional grounds: this same court managed to conclude that a capital gains tax was not an income tax but rather an excise tax. I do not believe that there is any other legal entity in the US that considers a capital gains tax as an excise tax. An excise tax is a tax on the value of the property. Capital gains is based on the increase in the value of the property. The bottom line is that this court is not to be relied upon for possessing either economic literacy or a judicial interpretative philosophy based on originalism or textualism. In my opinion, the outcome is fore ordained but it will be interesting to see just how the court justifies the constitutionality of this law for those of you who enjoy a bit of logical gymnastics.
A second legal aspect that is interesting about this bill is that the language includes a clause that limits its modification by public referendum on a voter’s initiative. That clause is “Sec. 1208. The tax imposed in this act is necessary for the support of the state government and its existing public institutions.” Thus the state legislature has attempted to shield its work from the inevitable voter’s initiative.
OT
The U.S. must insert Special Operations Forces and escalate to tactical nukes to stop Iran’s attacks on the Strait of Hormuz, acting jointly with other nations in the region.
Millionaire and billionaire taxes are unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment Equal Protection Act.
Millionaire and billionaire “persons” enjoy the equal protection of the law and cannot be discriminated against and taxed differently from other “persons.”
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
14th Amendment
No State shall…deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
There is a candidate for Governor of Michigan who promises to abolish our income tax. If he is successful, maybe people like Howard Schultz will return here.
The news stated that Bill Gates is in favor of the WA millionaires tax.
David B. Benson is a joke!
Bill “Epstein” Gates has no credibility left and could care less about any tax; he is worth $107.7 billion, and his wealth increases by as much as $16 billion per year.
Bill “Epstein” Gates is free to send a check to the government anytime he likes.
AI Overview
Bill Gates’ personal wealth fluctuates significantly year-over-year, driven primarily by the appreciation of his massive investment portfolio rather than a traditional salary. While his net worth has grown by billions in some years, such as a $16 billion increase in 2019, it has also seen substantial recent declines due to his commitment to give away virtually all his wealth by 2045.
What news david
Money is like water; it follows the path of least resistance.
And then we have the tax on not yet realized profits. Get that, a tax on estimated profits in the future.
Like little things known as recessions never happen. If things don’t go so well will they give the money back. You gotta hand it to them. When it comes to taking your cash they are a creative lot.
TiT,
Right. These are the same people who run state pension funds like in CA and IL that are under funded and over committed.
Illinois’s performance is “ROUGHLY AVERAGE” compared globally.
AI Overview
Illinois teacher salaries are among the highest in the nation, with an average salary of $74,000.
Illinois ranks 12th in the U.S. for teacher pay.
AI Overvew
International Comparison: On a global scale, Illinois’ performance lags behind countries like Singapore, Japan, and Estonia.
Illinois is average compared to other developed nations.
Illinois’s teachers make more money and produce less student achievement thanks to the unconstitutional criminal organizations, the overcompensated radical communist teachers’ unions, that consist of merely purveyors of communist propaganda and indoctrination.
Billionaires listening to their Tax Attorney’s advice is how they became Billionaires to begin with.
If the Law Firm (Tax Attorney’s) they pay to guide them through the maze of Tax Laws says: MOVE, then they MOVE.
It’s business as usual for the Billionaires and their Tax Attorneys. ‘The Goal’ of the Law Firm’s is to save as much money as possible for the Client.
If the Firm can find ways for their Client to pay ZERO Taxes, then the Firm (Tax Attorney) is worth every penny saved.
God Bless America, Capitalism and Tax Attorneys 🇺🇸
Hey, they have to do something to shore up the tax base. From the Malibu Times. California once again led the nation in outbound migration in 2025, as more residents packed up and left the Golden State than moved in, continuing a trend that has now stretched six consecutive years
The poor can’t move and the middle and upper middle income people will no longer be there to support the poor. The socialist states continue to fail and they want to get the wealthy job creators to pick up the slack. It’s always it’s not us but them that are the problem. Welcome to the nonexistent train to nowhere now boarding at the seventh street boondoggle station. There is a wait. Departures for Texas, Florida and Georgia are booked up for the near future. ALL ABOARD!?
Sadly so for Texas, Florida, and Georgia. And South Carolina. Colorado’s californication is near complete.
Unfortunately, one result could be that when the very wealthy move, it will further increase real estate prices in the areas to which they move- which will impact the rest of us. Yes, 99% of us can’t afford a multi million dollar home- or even a million dollar house. But realtors and sellers will be incented to keep their prices high, knowing that to the Californian etc streaming in, our prices are low.
Anyone listening? Th rich are moving on threats of tax increases. Good job Democrats. You are recreating the rust belt and hollowed out cities except it will be state wide this time.
Idiots
It’s a fabulous way to segregate owners and workers with home base in places like Florida and workers in Washington. I approve! Separate little nation states will have their own labor base having no ability to become major employers. Fabulous!
Carpe diem
Ro, Bernie, Liz W. your checks are in the mail. Special shout out to these helpful politicians! As an employer of foreign labor fine job on those nasty tariffs! I knew I could depend you and the little people. Fabulous!
The MORON VOTERS in Washington State are getting EXACTLY what they voted for – Soviet Style Governance and to be led by the nose like a prize winning bull to slaughter! The idiots who believed PAY YOUR FAIR SHARE was only going to apply to highly mobile Millionaires and Billionaires deserve to be fleeced for nearly all their money because stupid people don’t deserve to keep their money! The socialist leaning voters walked up to the edge and then decided paradise must be at the bottom of the abyss – Well JUMP IN YOU HALF-WITS and tell us how it ends! HAHA HAHA!!!
Do note: Washington voters did not vote on the millionaires tax. The tax was passed by the state legislature, not through a public vote.
The legislative process saw the Washington State House and Senate approve Senate Bill 6346, which imposes a 9.9% tax on household income over $1 million, after a lengthy debate. The bill now heads to Governor Bob Ferguson’s desk to be signed into law.
I remember when they first same up with this foolish idea. They said it was for “billionaires” only….
Then noticed they didn’t have enough of them.. Nuts
Many did not vote for these fools. We have mail-in voting which is rife with fraud; Our elections are a joke. We tried to fight back and over 100,000 of us wrote “con” against the tax. The kings and queens of the political landscape called us “bots”. They change laws at will to protect themselves, and even gave the attorney general more powers to go after us. We are living in a hell hole that is not of our making but created by a class of political insiders, NGOs, and fraudsters. Help!
National Socialist Democrats always promise to pick the other guy’s pocket and give it to you. They prey on ignorance and greed, to win elections. So far, it has worked in many places, including Virginia. Virginia’s National Socialists promised to tax their way into prosperity, and are introducing and raising scores of fees and taxes.
And they gave themselves and very nice pay raise too.
Really dustoff, can’t you get anything right?
Virginia lawmakers have proposed a significant pay raise for themselves, but it has not yet been finalized. In February 2026, the Democratic-controlled Virginia Senate and House of Delegates passed budget amendments that would increase legislative salaries from $18,000 to $50,000 annually—a raise of about 178%
Hey you dummy. You really think the new dem governor will say NO to this…
Dude.
You must live in a cave,
The net result of these recent tax provisions (not just in Washington), with the exodus of the rich, will serve to create the US becoming a bunch of highly populated and taxed, third-world states vs a smaller group of highly productive states with relatively low taxes. This is civil war country.
No it will not. Just because a couple rich guys decided to move from CA or WA, obviously has nothing to do with recent tax laws there. Have you spoken with Howard Schultz, or has anyone, asked him why he moved. Or is planning to move. No you have not. You’re not even guessing, just shooting off your uniformed mouth.
Hey Ano
Just maybe you should read the letter Mr Starbucks wrote to the state WA leaders, on why he’s leaving. Remember too. He is a big lib.
Come on dustoff, get the basic facts right. Howard Schultz did not send a letter to Washington state officials about the new tax. Instead, he announced his move from Seattle to Miami in a LinkedIn post, where he did not directly mention the proposed millionaire’s tax. In the post, he framed the relocation as a personal decision tied to retirement, citing the appeal of South Florida’s sunshine and proximity to family. However, he did express hope that Washington will remain a place for business and entrepreneurship to thrive. Multiple sources confirm the announcement was made publicly online, not through official correspondence with state officials.
Don’t be stupid Ano. You know darn well who it was meant for.
One day after passing this foolish tax. He writes a letter to them.
Letter? Did you source the comment i.e., validate the anons’s comment, it was on LinkedIn, intended group: business people and investors, not to the legislature … “you know who ….” You being disingenous. Nope. You are truly the dumbest SOB the world has ever encountered.
OMG… Are you blind. His letter was a shot over the bow. So everyone would see it.
It was meant for crazy left wingers who think money is everywhere.
It’s not.
A partial list of “rich” people who have either moved away from CA and WA or announced plans to do so:
Jeff Bezos
Elon Musk
Howard Schultz
Phil Mickleson
Mark Zuckerberg
Larry Page
Sergy Brin
Larry Ellison
Sylverster Stallone
Peter Thiel
David Sacks
What follows is a list of all the billionaires I have found who have announced plans to move from Texas and Florida to California and Washington over the past two years:
So what? Whatever their motivations are, you have no idea. Do some real research i.e., as to why and if in fact they have moved.
OK.. Mr know it all.
Tell us why they left.
I’ll wait
They didn’t tell me dustoff. I did not ask. But if you make an effort you will find some relevant info.
Beside being dumb, you sure are lazy.
Ano comment (So what? Whatever their motivations are, you have no idea.)
Can you answer this or not. Or you love throwing out BS.
Just maybe you should listen to what they say….
DustOff,
It is not just what they say but what they do.
They are leaving. They are taking their wealth with them. The state of WA just lost another tax payer.
How marvelous!
So true Upstate. This will hurt
Says “anonymous”.
Downtown Seattle Association head says city taxes are causing job losses
Downtown Seattle Association President & CEO Jon Scholes said Wednesday night that the Emerald City’s downtown area has lost 37,000 jobs in the last five years with city business taxes causing the losses.
“We’re going in the wrong direction,” he told a crowd assembled for the State of Downtown annual program at the Seattle Convention Center.
At the same time, he said, downtown Bellevue has seen a 12% job increase, including some jobs that have moved from Seattle.
“And over the same period where we’ve seen a decrease in jobs, we’ve seen a record increase in taxes that employers in the city of Seattle are paying that employers aren’t paying in Bellevue and other cities in our region,” he said.
https://www.thecentersquare.com/washington/article_18edc042-5af0-4af3-9a35-ae0155740877.html?utm_source=referral&utm_medium=offthepress&utm_campaign=home
gdonaldallen,
Well said.
I would beg to differ on the highly populated part. As we have seen from U-Haul records, it is not just the $1m and billionaire class who are leaving these states but the middle class who can afford to flee for other, better states. All that will be left in these high tax states will be the lower class and illegals.
Well this is just more state nonsense. There is more than enough evidence that raising taxes seldom really recoups the money that states or nations think they will get by raising taxes whether they be wealth taxes or income taxes. The wealthy, such as Mr Schultz, can move, as Prof Turley has pointed out. It seems as if these states never go and talk to or survey the states where people move to after leaving.
I would suggest they do so. Texas, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina all have done well with legal migrants from other states. Like a successful company, one should study successful states and learn from them. To repeat the same errors would suggest concrete thinking that is incapable of doing analysis.
They almost act like a suicidal individual who sees no options or pathways out of their depression or condition. The disease has eliminated the ability to widen one’s view and to see those options.
It would appear that they can never understand that so many of the wealthy create wealth for themselves and often for anyone else who wants to hook their wagon on to the success train.
One wonders if these states are blind, stupid, lazy, or just insane and collectively suicidal.
I suppose these states had been successful enough in the past when they had discipline and assets like beauty and wilderness, nice weather and beaches and competition from other states was minimal or ineffective but that is no longer true. It is going to be their continuing loss.
The taxation system of the individual 50 states coupled with the federal government’s is highly complex. You have no idea except for a few bombastic headlines you garnered, what the issues are pertaining to the high income taxpayers in the 50 states; more than you can possibly comprehend. Knowledge individual state tax laws, which you pretend to know intimately, is laughable. Suggest you stay away from the daily headlines. You are not an economist or a CPA. Your insight, or better said, the lack of it, is telling. Stick to what you know. Whatever that is.
Nope.
It’s your typical dems who spend like crazy. There is never enough cash to make them happy.
Geez dustoff are you just dumb or willfully ignorance. What about Trump’s spending? Since Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, the U.S. national debt has increased by approximately $2.25 trillion as of January 2026, according to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. This rise reflects the first 12 months of his second term, with the debt reaching $38.4 trillion by early January 2026. That beats anything the dem states have initiated. Initialed, not put in effect.
LOL.. Trump was still working from Biden spending you fool.
Donald Trump’s second-term agenda. The bill was signed into law by Trump on July 4, 2025.
President Biden last signed major stopgap spending bills in December 2024 and a $1.2 trillion funding package in March 2024 to keep the government operating. These followed earlier major spending legislation, including $1.7 trillion in late 2022 and various 2023 appropriations. A stopgap measure passed in Dec 2024 currently funds the government through March 14, 2025
Ohhh… dustoff is using AI. Still, you’re a sap. Trump was still working from Biden spending … above and beyond beyond the budget, is what Trump spent. Do yo get that?
@GEB
‘Texas, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina all have done well with legal migrants from other states.’
Not politically! But for Florida, those other laces are turning blue. These types of transplants all too often simply recreate what they left, and often they are privileged enough it doesn’t impact them.
I hate to be cynical, but we could simply be witnessing the creation pf new blue states; purple and red states should be fortifying themselves.
Saw this happen in my home state (now it’s California’s back yard), and a popular majority was not necessary to flip – just a population majority, even if just the voting segment of the population, through larger cities.
Could happen anywhere and will; this type of wealthier transplant doesn’t pay attention to much outside their sphere and doesn’t give a toss about the people in their new anchor point, generally.
Think: steamroller. It can happen quite quickly, and even the SAVE act (though critical for other reasons) won’t prevent it. In coastal cities aline we are talking about tens of millions of people; what is state of less than two million, for example, supposed to do in response?
Isn’t it unconstitutional to levy a tax on only certain individuals regardless of the income?
Yep Barb
But the dems have total control of the state along with their high court. Rules mean nothing to them.
14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause.
It is discrimination to tax, or not tax, particular persons differently from other persons.
Plus. Mr Starbucks himself is leaving for Florida.
Its in Turley’s opinion. Good catch dustoff.
It was on the news yesterday in WA state. .
So you’re saying you didn’t read Turley’s article?
Opps….
More than once… Pull I live in WA state.
Anything else.
More than once…. And still you didn’t understand it? So a time zone diff. is your excuse? Posted east coast shows up the same instant in west coat. Besides stupid, you’re a liar.
I live in WA state you fool.
I read this letter and what Turley said…
Try again.