If anyone wonders why they are allowing your pension to be taxed as income, it is not because they think there will be people with pensions worth a million dollars a year.
It is because they will be lowering f the million dollar exception to the range where pensions will be taxed.
This will be a tax on everyone. In less than a decade.
Don’t let them fool you into thinking we are sticking it to high earners. We are sticking. It to ourselves.
Vote Yes to repeal the income tax.
Warning TLDR - Your Retirement Money has a Bullseye on it
Not Only Did Olympia Change the Law to Tax Your Retirement Account, But They Also Rewrote The Law So They Can Seize Your Retirement Money If You Don't Pay Your Taxes
Washington's new unconstitutional income tax bill (ESSB 6346) didn't just decide your pension/retirement check is now "income." It went into the old laws that said the state CANNOT tax your retirement money AND CANNOT seize it — and it deleted both protections. On purpose. Section by section. With Public Union support
The Actual Language (sample below is just one of the 11 pensions targeted)
Original Language
teachers' pension fund (TRS), RCW 41.32.052. Subsection (1) says your pension is exempt from state tax and "shall not be subject to execution, garnishment, attachment... or other process of law whatsoever."
Subsection (4), added this year:
"Subsection (1) of this section does not exempt any pension or other benefit received under this chapter from tax under Title 82A RCW." (The new income tax)
Translation: never mind all that. Not for this unconstitutional income tax.
And they didn't stop at teachers. They went down the list and did it to every plan:
• School employees (SERS)
• Teachers (TRS)
• Cops and firefighters (LEOFF)
• Volunteer firefighters
• State employees (PERS)
• Judges, troopers, the whole roster
• Don’t worry they also can attack your 401(k) and IRA too (RCW 6.15.020).
Jamie Pedersen and Bob Ferguson have a checklist with every fat juicy retirement account singled out
For context:
federal law (ERISA) generally keeps creditors' hands off your 401(k) — exceptions basically boil down to divorce, child support, and the IRS. Most states with an income tax just tax the check and leave the seizure protections alone. Washington did both. They made the pension taxable AND took the lock off the door.
Guess who's bankrolling the campaign to keep this law? The very unions whose members are sitting in these pension/retirement plans.
Per PDC filings :
• WEA — $2,000,000
• SEIU — $1,900,000
• WFSE — $1,000,000
• AFSME - $500,000
• NEA - $436,000
Teachers' union money, defending the law that put teachers' pensions on the collection list. WEA celebrated signing it. I'd love to see that internal memo. Oh wait….maybe they forgot to tell their members… who get screwed by the unions themselves take in more state money.
Sources: ESSB 6346 / 2026 c 238 § 808 (and parallel sections for other plans); RCW 41.35.100, 41.32.052, 41.26.053, 6.15.020, 82.32.210/220/235; PDC No on I-645 contribution filings.