{"id":615507,"date":"2026-06-09T11:48:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T11:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=615507"},"modified":"2026-06-09T11:48:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T11:48:13","slug":"44-business-leaders-consider-leaving-seattle-mayor-doesnt-sound-too-worried-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=615507","title":{"rendered":"44 business leaders consider leaving\u2014Seattle mayor doesn\u2019t sound too worried"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson remains unbothered by the exodus of business owners from her rabidly left-wing state.<\/p>\n

A February survey from the Association of Washington Business<\/a> found that 44 percent of business owners in Washington were considering relocating out of the state because of its exorbitant tax policies.<\/p>\n

In late March, the problem only grew worse when Gov. Bob Ferguson signed into law a millionaire\u2019s tax that imposes a hefty 9.9 percent income tax on any household with over $1 million in income.<\/p>\n

\n

The mass exodus of Washington State is currently underway. Would the last person out please off the lights.#financialflight<\/a> #votewithyourfeet<\/a> #abandonship<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/OhBH4dYOGh<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Mineral City LLC (Aviation Division)\"\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf2\"\"\u271d\" (@snocoshxt) June 8, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Days later, the employee-owned wealth management firm Coldstream<\/a> reported that \u201cmany high-income earning Washington residents\u201d were \u201cnow looking for a way out\u201d of the leftist utopia.<\/p>\n

\u201cA Washington resident earning $3 million annually now faces a state income tax bill of nearly $200,000 under the Millionaire Tax\u2014money that would remain entirely in the family\u2019s pocket in Nevada, Florida, Texas, or Wyoming,\u201d the firm noted in its report.<\/p>\n

Despite these developments, Wilson remains convinced that nothing is up.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo today, do you still feel the narrative of the rich leaving is still overblown?\u201d she was asked during an interview last week with local station KCPQ.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I still think that claims of a large exodus of rich people due to our statewide millionaire tax that the legislature passed this year are overblown,\u201d the Seattle mayor nonchalantly replied. \u201cI do believe that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I think about the last five months and the things that I and my administration have done to build bridges with the business community, the narrative that was spun around those things is very, very out of step with the reality,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Listen to the full interview below:<\/p>\n\n

(Video Credit: Fox 13 Seattle)<\/p>\n

She even had the audacity to tout her relationship with Starbucks, which she alleged has donated funds for a 90-unit village that\u2019s to be opened \u201clater this summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so these are all like \u2014 so this narrative that it\u2019s like Seattle socialist mayor versus Starbucks, like well, then why are they donating a million dollars to our shelter site?\u201d she said. \u201cSo, you know, the attitude that I have tried to come in with into office toward the business community is, \u2018Look, we\u2019re not going to agree on everything,\u2019 right?\u201d<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s more complicated than that. As previously reported, only hours after Wilson\u2019s opponent conceded defeat in the November 2025 election, she joined striking Starbucks employees on the picket line and called for people to boycott the company.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is why I am proud to join them on their picket line and proud to say loud and clear, I am not buying Starbucks and you should not either,\u201d she said from the picket line.<\/p>\n

Listen:<\/p>\n

\n

Socialist Seattle Mayor-elect Katie Wilson\u2019s first move after winning the election was to boycott Starbucks, a hometown company. pic.twitter.com\/zPoNULxfuk<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) November 14, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

She later doubled down while speaking at a Seattle University forum in April.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the claims that millionaires are going to leave our state are super overblown,\u201d she said in response to concerns about her rabid leftist policies driving businesses away. \u201cAnd the ones that leave? Like, bye.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listen:<\/p>\n

\n

In the wake of Washington state\u2019s approval of a new income tax on millionaires, Seattle mayor Katie Wilson, a democratic socialist, brushes aside concerns about wealthy residents fleeing the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ones that leave\u2014like, \u2018bye!\u2019\u201d pic.twitter.com\/vmfWcXQfvD<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) April 30, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Unfortunately for her, the chickens soon came home to roost, because five days after her remarks, Starbucks announced that it would be expanding into another city, Nashville, in a Republican-led state.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, according to an article in the\u00a0Seattle Times<\/a>, the most likely reason for the choice of Nashville was taxes, taxes, taxes.<\/p>\n

\u201cTennessee boasts the nation\u2019s eighth-best tax climate for business, according to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation\u2019s 2025 survey, which considers taxes on income, businesses, sales, and property, and unemployment insurance rates,\u201d according to the article.<\/p>\n

In fairness to Wilson, she did at least somewhat learn her lesson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose comments were not productive in the sense that they caused more harm than good,\u201d she admitted in a New York Times interview published last month.<\/p>\n

According to the Times, she also \u201csaid she understands now that everything she says will be parsed for potential anti-business sound-bites and that she should have \u2018a multidimensional relationship\u2019 with companies like Starbucks,\u201d whatever the hell that means.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want them here, and I believe they want to be here,\u201d she added about Starbucks.<\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson remains unbothered by the exodus of business owners from her rabidly left-wing state. A February survey from the Association of Washington Business found that 44 percent of business owners in Washington were considering relocating out of the state because of its exorbitant tax policies. In late March, the problem only grew… Continue reading 44 business leaders consider leaving\u2014Seattle mayor doesn\u2019t sound too worried<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":615496,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[18,19,10,21,12,11,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-615507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cancel-culture","category-censorship","category-civil-liberties","category-election-integrity","category-equal-justice","category-free-speech","category-religious-freedom","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=615507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/615496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=615507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=615507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=615507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}