Legislature convenes with eyes on deficit, taxes, education

As they were cheered from the gallery by friends and family and treated to a ukulele version of "America the Beautiful," legislators gathered Jan. 15 for the opening of the 2025 Washington State Legislature.

"As long as we stay focused on making sure people are better off by our decisions, we will get through our challenges and we will keep moving this state forward," said Rep. Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, who was elected as speaker of the House for the sixth time.

In the Senate, students from the American Sign Language program at River Ridge High School in Lacey, signed and sang the national anthem. President of the Senate, Lt. Gov. Denny Heck led the ceremonies, and the senators received their oaths of office from Chief Justice Debra L. Stephens.

However, some were not celebrating.

Rep. Drew Stokesbary, R-Auburn – who was nominated against Jinkins – said, "Washington keeps falling further behind because of choices the state and this body have made."

He said he believes taxes are increasing prices across Washington State and the government is spending too much money.

There is a projected budget deficit of at least $10 billion over the next four years, and Republicans want to cut spending to fix the problem. At the same time, they hope to remove taxes on items such as prepared food and diapers.

Democrats say they are more open to increasing revenue to help with the deficit, including a wealth tax proposed by Gov. Jay Inslee in December. However, they understand the budget needs to be "scrutinized," Jinkins said, but hope to avoid "harmful cuts" to schools, childcare or healthcare.

Gov. Bob Ferguson is striking a more moderate position. He said he is skeptical of the wealth tax and has proposed a 6% cut across all state agencies. Ferguson said he would exempt public K-12 education from cuts.

Other issues confronting the legislature include the decline in the motor vehicle fuel tax, the main source of transportation revenue. Cars have gotten more efficient and electric vehicles more popular, so legislators are looking at a road usage charge where drivers pay a certain amount per mile. Just what form that would take is an open question.

Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, Sen. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, spoke at a legislative preview Jan. 9. He reminded Washingtonians: "Our gas tax is a road usage charge. The more you drive, the more you pay."

Legislators will also look at how money from the Climate Commitment Act (CCA) is allocated. The CCA, enacted in 2021, funds projects that reduce carbon emissions, but Republicans say they hope to use some of that money for other things.

Ranking Member of the House Transportation Committee, Rep. Andrew Barkis, R-Olympia, said, "I'm going to be proposing legislation this year to redirect the additional [CCA] revenues."

Public safety will also be a priority this legislative session. "We have the fewest police officers per capita of any state in the country," Stokesbary has repeatedly pointed out.

However, Jinkins has celebrated new law enforcement academies that will train "540 more officers in the next biennium than we did prior to opening these academies."

One of Ferguson's campaign promises was to add $100 million in funding over the next biennium to help recruit more police officers.

Education will be another priority for lawmakers this session. Democrats are focused on funding, according to Sen. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle.

"We know that we have districts around the state that are in various states of financial distress as a result of our failure to provide adequate funding," he said.

However, Republicans are looking more at educational outcomes, wanting to hold teachers and students more accountable.

"We have spent more money than ever into the K-12 system," said Stokesbary, "and we're not getting results for it. Half of our students are failing reading standards; nearly two-thirds are failing math standards."

Stokesbary said students are failing despite what he called high teacher salaries. He said, "Good intentions alone aren't enough to automatically create good outcomes."

Finally, rent stabilization is an area of "significant interest" for the Senate Democrats, Pedersen said.

Republican House members voted against rent stabilization last session, according to Stokesbary, and he suspects "folks' opinion hasn't really changed."