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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
The session ended Sunday, April 27 on time, which was a pleasant surprise after a lot of talk about a special session. That being said, the governor still has several days to either sign the budget sent to him by Democrats or do some line-item vetoes. It is possible, though unlikely, that the risk of a special session is still there. And speaking of the budget…
Budget Update: Hold on to your wallets, folks!
Budget writers finally came to an agreement on the state’s two-year operating budget. I voted no. It contains the largest set of tax increases in state history, to the tune of $3.86 billion in 2025-2027, and $9.5 billion over the four-year outlook.
Some of the taxes include:
- Property tax increase because of a 55% increase in local school district property tax levy authority
- Business tax increases across the board including additional punitive surcharges on certain industries
- Sales tax expansion to critical business services including temporary staffing, digital services, security services, and applying tobacco taxes to certain nicotine products
- Capital gains income and death tax increases
- Tesla Tax – The majority party just couldn’t help themselves in targeting Elon Musk. This punitive excise tax on the sale or banking of zero-emission credits held by Tesla is petty and unbecoming of the Legislature
- Increasing the Discover Pass by 50%
- Hunting and Fishing licenses
This budget will spend $77.9 billion, an increase of $6 billion over current spending levels, which is an 8% INCREASE in spending! This is the fourth consecutive operating budget that spends more than expected collections. What family or business sets their budget KNOWING they won’t have the money in the long term?
A state budget is about priorities. The majority party chose to cut support for single parents, slashing aid to the aged, blind, disabled, and crime victims. Instead, they prioritized things like:
- Giving six weeks of unemployment benefits to striking workers
- Paying $154 million for non-citizen healthcare
- Giving $4 million in grants to activist groups
- Retaining DEI funding
- Funding for a study on reparations in Washington state
In the end, taxes were raised, other dedicated accounts were robbed, priorities were misplaced, and we’re almost guaranteed to be looking at another significant budget hole next biennium, because state government has not been right-sized.
During session and the interim, I’m often asked: “Why didn’t you fight more FOR this or AGAINST that.” Because we are in such a minority, Democrats can do pretty much anything they want. But we do fight with every parliamentary, amendment, committee and House floor tool or strategy available to us.
How did we fight?
This was an epic session for late-night floor debates, amendments offered, and impassioned speeches. I joined my House Republican colleagues in over 16 late-night floor sessions, including seven that went well past midnight. Key floor battles include:
- HB 5284 (Grocery Packaging Tax): Four-hour debate ending at 2:20 AM. Republicans offered 17 amendments, all oral roll called.
- HB 1296 (Gutting the Parental Rights’ Initiative): Six-hour debate ending at 2:15 AM. Republicans offered 44 amendments, four of which were adopted.
- SB 5296 (Juvenile Rehab Facilities): Republicans offered 44 amendments and requested dozens of oral roll call votes. Instead of spending 10+ hours debating the bill, Democrats agreed to kill the bill.
- HB 1217 (Rent Control): Republicans offered 72 amendments and requested dozens of oral roll call votes. Instead of spending 10+ hours debating the bill, Democrats agreed to accept an amendment that substantially improved the bill.
- HB 1163 (Firearm Permits and Training Requirements): Four-hour debate ending at 3:00 AM. Republicans offered 44 amendments, none of which were adopted.
- HB 2049 (Increasing Local School Levies): Three-hour debate ending at 1:00 AM. Republicans offered nine amendments, none of which were adopted.
- SB 5167 (Operating Budget): Seven-hour debate ending just after midnight. Republicans offered 26 amendments, only one of which was adopted.
- HB 2081 (Increasing B&O taxes): Three-hour debate. Republicans offered 22 amendments, four of which were adopted.
The frequency of these late-night floor sessions highlights not just the sheer volume of controversial legislation, but the fierce and sustained resistance Republicans mounted to defend taxpayers, fight for accountability, and promote common-sense solutions.
In addition to the floor fights above, we were able to kill several bills that would have made our streets less safe, taken more money from your pockets, and undermine the integrity of our elections process:
- HB 1380 would have prevented cities from clearing encampments and enforcing no-camping polices.
- HB 1125 would have allowed soft-on-crime judges to lower sentences for criminals.
- HB 1166 would have given prisoners access to private laptops, Wi-Fi, and smart health devices.
- HB 1399 would have taken away local control of sheriff’s offices and police departments.
- SB 5296 would have made it harder to send violent youth offenders to juvenile rehabilitation facilities.
- SB 5282 would have undermined Net Nanny Stings that protect children from sexual predators.
- SB 5360 would have created felonies for environmental crimes, even if committed on accident.
- HB 2049 (in its original form) would have tripled the growth rate for property taxes.
- HB 1608 would have imposed a new tax on bottles hitting grocery staples like water, soda, and juice.
- HB 1189 would have allowed formerly convicted criminals to volunteer in schools unsupervised.
- SB 5098 would have stripped law-abiding citizens of their right to carry weapons in certain public spaces.
- HB 1339 would have authorized even-year elections which undermine election integrity and engagement.
- HB 1146 would have required counties to create voting plans for jails and state hospitals
As we enter into what we call the “interim,” please know that my office is still available to you. We work for you and I am honored to serve on your behalf, whether it’s a meeting in district during the interim, or late-night floor debates during session. Thank you for that privilege.
Sincerely,
Joe Schmick
