The ink is dry on the state’s final budget, and Washingtonians deserve to know the truth about what just happened in Olympia. Behind the headlines and talking points lies a simple reality: this budget wasn’t built on necessity, it was built on political wish lists, inflated numbers, and the backs of working families who will be paying more for less.
Much has been made of a so-called $16 billion budget shortfall. That number has been repeated often, but it was never real. The nonpartisan budget staff, the same experts legislators from both parties rely on to write our budgets, calculated the true shortfall at $6.7 billion in December, and after updated revenue forecasts in March, adjusted it to $7.5 billion. That’s the number we should have used. Instead, the majority party treated it like a blank check request and tacked on billions in new spending proposals.
What followed was a push to frame this inflated shortfall as justification for the largest tax increase in state history. And despite early signals that he might take a more moderate approach, Gov. Bob Ferguson signed it into law.
In total, the new budget and its companion tax legislation will cost Washington families and employers $12.2 billion over the next four years, $9.3 billion in new state taxes and another $2.9 billion in local tax authority. It’s not just one or two new levies. The state sales tax will now apply to more services, property tax caps were loosened, and the result is that everything from housing and health care to food and even TV streaming services will cost more.
The most frustrating part? It didn’t have to be this way.
Senate Republicans offered a responsible, compassionate alternative: a budget that funded all core services, met the governor’s own six budget standards, and didn’t raise a single tax or fee. Our plan didn’t make cuts to education, behavioral health, or child services. It simply asked the state government to live within its means and prioritize existing dollars. That proposal was rejected twice.
Instead, the budget that passed cut funding in areas we should be strengthening. Despite record spending, the percentage of the budget allocated to public K-12 education continues to shrink. Behavioral health and public health services were reduced. Postpartum Medicaid coverage for low-income mothers was cut in half, despite previous evidence that expanding it saves lives. And services for children, youth, and families saw reductions even as billions were set aside for government employee pay raises.
This is a budget that hurts the very people we should be helping most.
The governor had an opportunity to break from the past, to reject the politics of overspending and speak up for working families. Earlier this year, he acknowledged Washington had become unaffordable. He warned against using budget gimmicks. He promised a “laser focus” on affordability. But when it came time to act, those promises were set aside. The final budget relies heavily on regressive tax hikes that hit low- and middle-income families the hardest.
What we needed was thoughtful leadership and a serious conversation about state spending priorities. What we got was a tax-and-spend plan that makes life in Washington more difficult for families already feeling the pinch of rising costs.
We can do better. We must do better.
Washington’s budget should reflect the values of its people, fiscal responsibility, compassion, and fairness. That’s the approach I’ll continue to fight for, and it’s what the people of our state deserve.
Sen. Ron Muzzall is a fourth generation resident of Whidbey Island. He and his family operate a beef, lamb, hog, and egg farm. He is a Ranking Member of the Health and Long Term Care Senate Committee and also serves on the Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources and Parks, Ways and Means, and Rules Committees.
