Budget the 'dominating' topic during Washington's legislative session

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Pomp, circumstance, and a desire to get right to work: Washington's lawmakers are keenly focused on the budget as the legislative session began on Monday.

They have just 60 days during this session and there's an ongoing debate about how to get it done.

Clapping and cheers kicked off the warm welcome back for Washington's lawmakers, but those can only last so long when you're facing a proposed $79 billion supplemental budget with a $2.3 billion shortfall, and you have to agree on how to fix it.

What they're saying:

"The fact that we're back here, having to talk about a new shortfall is quite a disappointment to us," said Democratic State Sen. Jamie Pederson.

Pederson reflected on why he believes the state is currently dealing with another shortfall.

"Largely this is driven by the malevolent, hostile federal government, which has been with its reckless tariff policy, creating havoc for our economy and then with the destabilization of the healthcare market, creating a whole bunch of unintended consequences for us," he said.

Gov. Bob Ferguson announced his supplemental two-year budget proposal last month, featuring a $1.2 billion increase from before. It ends two tax exemptions for large corporations, uses unspent money from across the state government, cuts $797 million in spending across state agencies, and pulls $1 billion from the state's Rainy Day Fund.

"The governor did the best that he could with some very difficult circumstances. I suspect that there's almost 100 percent certainty that when the House and Senate Democrats get done looking at the budget, we'll have some changes that we'll want to make," Pederson said.

The governor blames the shortfall on factors including inflation as well as President Donald Trump's tariffs and policies.

The other side:

"Going into this session, the dominating topic will be the state budget and taxes once again because the state once again, after the largest tax increases in state history, is facing a multi-billion dollar deficit," said Republican State Rep. Travis Couture.

Couture said the problem isn't in D.C.

"As it relates to the governor's budget, frankly, it doesn't balance over four years and there was no attempt to make it balance over four years, and it grows spending once again," he said.

In the governor's budget proposal, he wants to fund state healthcare programs, help protect farms from pests, ensure people have access to SNAP benefits, and invest in housing and ferries, as well as roads and bridges, which is particularly timely considering the damage left behind by recent flooding and storms.

"We have a spending addiction in this state. We don't actually have a revenue problem," Couture said. "We have record amounts of revenue. So that's why Republicans like myself, have put together an affordability first budget framework that has no new taxes and preserves all of the essential functions of government and doesn't cut a dime from healthcare, public safety, or classrooms."

By the numbers:

Ferguson is also advocating for a "Millionaires' Tax," a 9.9% income tax on people making more than $1 million a year. If it were to pass, the state wouldn't see any money from the tax until 2029.

"Nobody actually trusts that it will remain on millionaires in the long run and that is the threat that I think most people do not want a state income tax because I've never seen a tax go away in Washington state," Couture said.

Pederson rebutted that argument.

"The only proposal that's in front of us right now, is taxing income over a million dollars and that'll be indexed to inflation, so that exemption amount would go up every year," he said.

He explained where he thinks a "Millionaires' Tax" could be helpful moving forward.

"The fiscal folks tell us that would raise something like $3.5 billion to $4 billion a year which would give us substantial room both to fund the programs we know people want: public schools, healthcare, higher education, and also give us an opportunity to reduce more regressive taxes," Pederson said.

The state constitution bars an income tax, so it would likely be challenged.

It's notable that this is an election year and the votes cast could impact lawmakers later. There are 24 seats up in the Senate and 98 seats up in the House.

What's next:

The question now: What will it take for lawmakers to pass a budget?

"This is going to be a very contentious session. I've said that it will be a fiery but mostly peaceful legislative session," Couture said.

Pederson described the session as likely to be "intense."

"We have a lot of work to get done in 60 days and I am firmly committed to the idea that we are going to wind up our work on time and be done on March 12," Pederson said.

The governor's office laid out a timeline for the budget with a goal to pass by March and have it reviewed and signed that same month or by April.

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