Police & Firefighters
Law Enforcement Officers' and Fire Fighters' Retirement System, plus the older Firemen's Pension Fund.
RCW 41.26.053Protect Washington's pensions
The income tax is a retirement tax
For more than 50 years, Washington law promised that the pensions of police officers, firefighters and teachers were exempt from any state tax. This year's income tax rewrote 11 retirement laws to take that promise away. A YES vote on I-645 puts it back.
Read the fine print
One sentence. Eleven laws. Every public pension.
The income tax is Senate Bill 6346, signed March 30, 2026. Part VIII of the bill added the same sentence to the retirement law for nearly every public pension system in Washington. Here's what it did to the law covering police officers and firefighters.
The promise is still on the books. A new subsection now says it doesn't apply to the income tax.
RCW 41.26.053 · LEOFF retirementAs amended by SB 6346 (2026 c 238 § 812)
(1) … the right of a person to a retirement allowance, disability allowance, or death benefit, to the return of accumulated contributions … are hereby exempt from any state, county, municipal, or other local tax, and shall not be subject to execution, garnishment, attachment, the operation of bankruptcy or insolvency laws, or other processes of law whatsoever …
(2)–(3) [insurance deductions; child support and court-ordered exceptions]
(4) Subsection (1) of this section does not exempt any pension or other benefit received under this chapter from tax under Title 82A RCW.
Who lost protection
They kept their promise. Olympia broke its.
Public employees accepted lower pay in exchange for a secure retirement, on the state's word that it would never be taxed. SB 6346 broke that word for every one of these systems.
Teachers & School Staff
Teachers' Retirement System and the School Employees' Retirement System.
RCW 41.32.052 · 41.35.100Public Safety
Corrections officers, juvenile detention staff and other public safety employees.
RCW 41.37.090Public Employees
State, county and city workers across Washington, including Plan 3 members.
RCW 41.40.052Judges & State Patrol
The Judicial Retirement System and older judges' fund, plus Washington State Patrol retirees.
RCW 2.10.180 · 2.12.090 · 2.14.100Everyone else's retirement
IRA and 401(k) protections were rewritten to allow income tax collection, and the taxable share of Social Security counts toward the tax.
RCW 6.15.02011retirement laws rewritten by the income tax bill
52–44House vote rejecting an amendment to keep public pensions out of the tax
1969the year Washington first promised police and fire pensions would never be taxed
"It only hits millionaires"
Then why did they need your pension?
The tax starts above $1 million today. That number is set in statute, not the constitution. Lawmakers rejected a proposal to lock the $1 million deduction and the 9.9% rate into the constitution, so any future Legislature can lower the line by simple majority.
If the tax were only ever meant for millionaires, there was no reason to rewrite the law protecting a retired firefighter's pension. They did it anyway.
Where the income tax starts
$0$1,000,000 today
Set in statute. Not protected by the constitution. Can be lowered by a simple majority.
"I personally absolutely do."Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen, on whether he supports a universal income tax, as reported by the Everett Herald, Sept. 29, 2026.
What a YES vote does
YES on I-645 restores the protection
Repeals the income tax
Repeals the 9.9% tax from SB 6346, including the provisions that stripped pension protections from 11 retirement laws, before it ever takes effect.
Restores the promise
With the income tax gone, the original promise stands again: public pensions exempt from any state, county, municipal or local tax.
Bans income taxes
Prohibits state and local taxes on individual income, so a pension tax can't come back through the side door.
I-645 leaves in place the tax credits passed with the income tax, including the expanded Working Families Tax Credit and the small-business B&O credit.
How it happened
From promise to fine print
- 1969The promiseState law exempts police and fire pensions from "any state, county, municipal, or other local tax."
- Mar 9, 2026Protection voted downAmendment to keep public pensions out of the income tax fails in the House, 52–44.
- Mar 30, 2026SB 6346 signed9.9% income tax becomes law, and 11 pension laws are amended.
- Mid-OctoberBallots arriveI-645 is on your ballot.
- Nov 3, 2026Election DayYES repeals the tax and its pension provisions.
- Jan 1, 2028Tax starts if I-645 failsFirst payments due in 2029.
Take the pledge
Stand with the people who stand for us
I pledge to vote YES on I-645 to restore the pension protections Washington promised our police, firefighters and teachers.
Add your name and we'll remind you when ballots arrive and before Election Day.
Pledge to Vote YES
Protect the pensions of Washington's police, firefighters and teachers.
Your questions, answered
Pensions & I-645
Will my pension be taxed in 2028?
Under SB 6346 as written today, the tax applies to income above a $1 million standard deduction, and married couples share one deduction. The danger is what the law already did: it removed the exemption, so any future cut to the $1 million line reaches your pension automatically. A YES vote on I-645 removes that risk.
What exactly did SB 6346 change?
It added a subsection to the retirement law for PERS, LEOFF, TRS, SERS, PSERS, the judicial systems, the Firemen's Pension Fund and others, saying the long-standing tax exemption "does not exempt any pension or other benefit … from tax under Title 82A RCW." It also changed RCW 6.15.020 so IRAs and 401(k)s are no longer shielded from income tax collection.
Did anyone try to protect pensions?
Yes. On March 9, 2026, an amendment on the House floor would have struck the pension section and kept public pensions out of the income tax. It failed 52–44.
What does I-645 do?
It repeals the 9.9% tax on individual income over $1 million enacted by SB 6346, prohibits state and local taxes on individual income, and defines "income" in law. It takes effect 30 days after voters approve it, before the income tax would begin.
Will I-645 cut school funding?
The income tax isn't collected until 2029, so no school dollar today depends on it. Opponents estimate it would raise about $3.5 billion a year. Washington's budget problem is spending, not revenue, and public employees shouldn't pay for it with their retirement security.
When do I vote?
Ballots arrive in mid-October. Return yours by mail, postmarked by November 3, or at a drop box by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Vote YES on 645
Repeal the Income Tax
Ballots arrive in mid-October. Pledge to vote YES and we'll remind you when it's time to vote.