Gov. Bob Ferguson warned Tuesday that repealing Washington’s new “millionaires tax” would make childcare even less affordable for all families.
Joined by Seattle-area parents, childcare advocates and early learning providers, Ferguson urged voters to reject Initiative 645, which would repeal the new 9.9% tax that applies to household income exceeding $1 million, beginning on 2028 earnings. Ferguson has been campaigning against the initiative for months, arguing it could devastate the state's budget and leave schools, small businesses and families floundering.
Starting in 2029, the new tax revenue is expected to bring in more than $3 billion a year, 5% of which is specifically earmarked to fund early learning and childcare.
“I talk to parents all the time about the pressures of childcare, how they try to deal with it all across the state,” Ferguson said Tuesday in a news conference at the José Martí Child Development Center in Seattle’s Roosevelt neighborhood.
“It would break my heart to lose access like this for thousands and thousands of kids all across the state, he added, as a gaggle of children giggled and cried nearby.
The state estimates the new tax revenue could generate $321.5 million for childcare and early learning in the 2029-31 biennium, or potentially more than $160 million in the first year.
That funding is vital to keep afloat key programs for improving childcare access, advocates say, such as the state’s Working Connections Child Care subsidy.
That subsidy supports working parents or parents enrolled in school whose total household income is below 60% of the state median income, or about $70,000 for a family of three. Last year, more than 44,000 families were enrolled in the program, which has been mired in financial uncertainty recently as the state wrestles with ongoing budget challenges.
Jasmin Calderon Shadlow, childcare director at the center where Ferguson spoke, noted that many families who do not qualify for public subsidies are also struggling to afford childcare. The nonprofit center charges $2,300 a month for toddler care, she said.
“That’s still a lot of money (but) we have a lot of families that are grateful even for that, because of how much higher other places are,” she said, holding the hand of her 2-year-old daughter Mikaili, who munched on a concha.
State leaders and childcare advocates say repealing the millionaires tax would mean slashing childcare funding at a moment when providers are already struggling to stay open, retain staff or expand slots for families.
Meanwhile, childcare costs remain among the most substantial financial burdens for Washington families.
The average annual cost of care for one child under age 5 in Washington is roughly $18,700 a year, according to a 2025 estimate from Child Care Aware. That’s about 15% of the median income for a two-income household, or just over half of the median income for a single parent. Childcare gets even pricier in higher-cost areas like King County.
Because of limited provider slots and public funding, thousands of families who otherwise qualify for some form of government assistance to help pay for childcare aren't able to access support.
More than 102,000 children eligible for the federal Child Care and Development Fund — which helps fund the state childcare subsidy — are not served by the program, according to a 2026 report from the First Five Years Fund, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization.
Ferguson said the millionaires tax is not “solving the problem” of childcare access, but that it's a step toward making more childcare slots available.
The funding will also not close the state’s estimated annual $6.3 billion economic opportunity gap caused by parents being unable to find affordable, accessible and high-quality childcare, said Genevieve Stokes, director of government relations at Child Care Aware of Washington.
Still, she argues the funding is a start toward restoring promises the state made to expand access to childcare subsidies for working families.
Income eligibility for the Working Connections Child Care subsidy was scheduled to increase to 75% of state median income in 2029, and 85% of state median income in 2031, but those expansions were delayed by state budget cuts this year.
“I would never characterize $150+ million as insignificant,” Stokes said. “There is a lot that it is going to do to help shore up the (state’s) very rocky system right now because of the other budget cuts that we've had.”
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 3, or put in a drop box or returned in person to a county elections office by 8 p.m. that day.
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