Christine Gregoire led Washington state as a Democrat governor from 2005 to 2013. Now she watches in dismay as her successors embrace the very policies she warns will hollow out the state’s economy. In pointed remarks at a recent business summit, Gregoire expressed open disgust at the new 9.9 percent tax on household incomes above $1 million, a measure signed into law earlier this year by Gov. Bob Ferguson and set to take effect in 2028.
Her critique cuts to the heart of a failed progressive experiment. Washington, long a haven for innovation and enterprise thanks to companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Starbucks, now risks becoming another cautionary tale of high taxes driving away the productive.
Gregoire’s words carry weight precisely because they come not from a partisan opponent but from within the Democratic fold. When even one of their own sees the writing on the wall, the rest of the party should take notice.
The former governor pulled no punches. “Those people are not homeless. They will not pay. They’re leaving,” she said, referencing the mobile nature of wealth. When they go, so does the economic activity they generate — including the very capital gains taxes progressives count on and the private philanthropy that funds countless good works government cannot match in efficiency or heart.
Gregoire also zeroed in on the deeper issue: a legislature lacking business experience. “I would suggest to you, we don’t really have an income problem. We have a spending problem, and we’re answering it by stacking one more tax, one more rule, one more regulation,” she observed. The absence of predictability, she noted, stifles the very growth that sustains jobs and opportunity. This is not abstract theory. Starbucks’ decision to shift major operations out of its founding city speaks volumes.
Meanwhile, Seattle’s leadership offers a masterclass in denial. Mayor Katie Wilson, a self-described democratic socialist, reportedly signaled leniency toward public drug use and dismissed concerns about wealthy residents fleeing with a casual wave. Her priorities align more with enabling disorder than fostering the ordered liberty that built the Emerald City. Open-air drug markets and tent encampments persist near landmarks like the Space Needle, even as policymakers chase revenue from the successful rather than address root causes of decline.
This episode exposes a recurring contradiction in progressive governance. Leaders promise compassion through redistribution, yet implement policies that erode the tax base and accelerate urban decay. Washington’s voters have rejected broad income taxes at the ballot box multiple times, yet legislators found a workaround targeting “millionaires” — for now. The refusal to lock in that threshold permanently suggests the appetite for expansion remains strong.
Business leaders have sounded alarms for months. Microsoft President Brad Smith described the state’s business climate as more concerning than at any point in three decades. Job cuts at Amazon and Meta, alongside corporate relocations, paint a clear picture. When government treats success as a sin to be penalized, the productive eventually seek friendlier shores. History is littered with such examples, from high-tax jurisdictions in Europe to California’s ongoing struggles.
The irony deepens when considering Washington’s natural advantages — innovation hubs, natural beauty, and a legacy of enterprise. These assets cannot withstand indefinite assaults from confiscatory policy and cultural disorder. Gregoire’s candor reveals what many on the left privately know: you cannot punish wealth creation without punishing the society that depends upon it.
Washington’s story serves as a microcosm for the nation. As federal and state leaders debate fiscal paths forward, the choice remains stark — reward work and ingenuity or penalize them in the name of equity. The former builds prosperity for all; the latter breeds resentment and exodus.
At the foundation of sound governance lies a recognition of human nature and moral order. This principle upholds both personal responsibility and communal provision through honest labor, not endless extraction from a shrinking pool of achievers.
Gregoire’s disgust may not sway the current majority in Olympia, but it should prompt reflection among those still capable of it. Policies born of envy rather than prudence seldom end well. Washington — and America — would do better to remember what made it prosperous in the first place.
