Unfortunately, MAGA mega-donor, “Christian” extremist, and serial initiative process-abuser Brian Heywood was successful in tricking everyday working folks into acting against their own interest and signing his petitions to get I-645 on the ballot, so he can be as greedy as he wants and not pay his fair share of taxes.
Part of it is certainly that money buys marketing that is used to deceive people and make them take action against their own interests. Part is hypocritically and cynically asking working people to abide by the myth/code of the “self-made man,” that the uber-wealthy themselves do not (https://www.faireconomy.org/i_didnt_do_it_alone). Part of it is those same uber-wealthy using those self-made bootstrap myths to convince the rest of us that we are “temporarily embarrassed millionaires,” who risk our own (non-existent) opportunities for massive wealth by simply asking them to pay their fair share.
The rich get to use their money to make money. The rest of us must use our actual labor to make money, and that is if, and only if, the “market” recognizes our work as “worthy”, where critical needs, like caregiving, do not get the recognition that more frivolous or luxury endeavors do.
The playing field is not level, but uber-rich people like Heywood will do everything they can to convince us it is – like it’s raining when they’re actually… Well, you know how it goes.
At the end of the day, though, it’s simply this: Money buys politics, and folks like Brian Heywood have the money to regularly and repeatedly waste our time and money by trying to impose their extremist agendas on us.
So we must now not only defend our girls and LGBTQIA+ community from Heywood’s horrific Jeffrey Epstein/Larry Nasser-creepy homophobic and anti-transgender initiatives, we must now defend working-class Washingtonian’s from his greed and unwillingness to pay his fair share.
These two Fortify! model resolutions, together, exist to help defeat all of Heywood’s rotten 2026 initiatives. If we do this, we get closer to stopping people like Brian Heywood from wasting our precious time, money, and taxpayer dollars defending ourselves from their harm and greed.
Is defeating his initiatives important to you? Then here’s something concrete you can do: Ask your city councils to take a stand against Heywood’s attempts to harm our communities, and learn how to organize to lean on your elected officials in the process (a la the Midwest Academy).
The mission is straightforward: Get a group together (build power). Ask your city council to “Please agendize and pass these resolutions in two weeks” at the next meeting’s public comment. Grow your group using the petition (build more power). Mobilize the folks who signed your petition (power) to attend the meeting and support your City Council passing these resolutions when they take action. For an example, see “A Recipe for Swift Victory.“
Organizing materials below.
Fortify! WA by Defending the Millionaires’ Tax from A Greedy Rich Extremist
This model resolution amplifies the work of Invest in WA Now.
Online Petition (sign and share!): https://share.mayfirst.org/apps/forms/s/KbE4SbjQoeQjJNCXsAGiQnYr
Hard-copy PDF materials folder: https://share.mayfirst.org/s/eQZMoPS8yA8dfc2
Fortify! WA against Anti-Trans Initiatives and Wealthy Extremists
This model resolution amplifies the work of No Hate in WA State.
Online Petition (sign and share!): https://share.mayfirst.org/apps/forms/s/Pa2KmkEknQf4jHJSDFRZiZca
Hard-copy PDF materials folder: https://share.mayfirst.org/s/mfdMxP2ZdrByHaJ