Legislative session was ‘historic’ but not for the right reasons

March 19, 2026

Dear Neighbors,

This year’s legislative session is over, and I’m glad it ended on schedule. Had we been forced into overtime there’s no telling how many more harmful bills might have been passed.

Governor Ferguson called the session “historic,” and on that we agree. His definition is different than mine, however. He wholeheartedly supports the new state income tax, while I see its passage as the worst thing to happen at the Capitol in decades — and that’s before you get to the other bad bills that our Democratic colleagues pushed through.

To help put the 2026 session in perspective, keep reading for a list of the tax bills that passed in support of yet another irresponsible state operating budget, along with examples of both good and bad bills that passed. But ahead of that is an update on one of the responsibilities that consumed a great deal of my time this session: the capital budget.

It’s great to be back home in the 16th District. If you see me out and about, say hello – because I’m your senator all the time, not just when we’re in session in Olympia. Also, this Saturday I’ll be co-hosting town hall meetings in Richland and Walla Walla with my “seatmates” from the House of Representatives. I hope you can join us!

Updated capital budget to make visible improvements in our district, region

Although the capital budget is the smallest of the three state budgets, it’s also the best example of how legislators work across party lines to do good things in our state. Proof of that is found in the money allocated to deal with the piles of waste tires in our state, starting with the eyesore outside of Richland.

It’s common for lawmakers to talk about the capital budget in terms of the projects designated for their respective districts, but Sen. Mark Schoesler, of the neighboring 9th District, and I also like to group the projects a little differently, as we explained in this press release following the adoption of the final, negotiated version. That’s because the needs of small school districts, agriculture and so on tend to cut across district lines.

Operating budget means more tax increases — which I didn’t support

A year ago, facing a shortfall of about $7 billion over four years, I supported a budget proposal that balanced without raising taxes and without cutting anyone off state-funded services, yet still allowed for about a 5% increase in spending. Unfortunately, the special interests have more influence in Olympia than the average taxpayer, and Democrats instead went with a state-record $12.3 billion in new or higher taxes, at both the state and local levels, and a big spending increase to go with it.

This year the budget was short again – by an estimated $1.5 billion, in spite of all those tax hikes in 2025. Once again, rather than control spending, the majority Democrats chose to support billions in additional spending through a combination of fund raids and more taxes. I didn’t support any of these:

  • SB 5949 (Sen. June Robinson, D-Everett): Insurance-carrier tax
  • SB 6228 (Sen. Noel Frame, D-Seattle): Will increase health-care costs by raising cost of doing business for many pharmacies
  • SB 6231 (Sen. Frame): Increases costs for replacing data-center equipment
  • SB 6248 (Sen. Derek Stanford, D-Bothell): Travel-insurance tax
  • SB 6346 (Sen. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle): Imposes a state income tax
  • HB 1796 (Rep. Lisa Callan, D-Issaquah): School-construction debt
  • HB 1983 (Rep. Steve Tharinger, D-Port Townsend): Redefines “timberland” for real estate excise tax purposes
  • HB 2034 (Rep. Timm Ormsby, D-Spokane): Raids the oldest of the Law Enforcement Officers and Fire Fighters retirement plans (LEOFF Plan 1)
  • HB 2089 (Rep. Shaun Scott, D-Seattle): Tax on loan interest
  • HB 2248 (Rep. Osman Salahuddin, D-Redmond): Corporate filings
  • HB 2385 (Rep. Nicole Macri, D-Seattle): Tax to expand Medicaid access
  • HB 2442 (Rep. April Berg, D-Mill Creek): Local-government tax authority
  • HB 2487 (Rep. Macri): Tax on insurance carriers
  • HB 2521 (Rep. Ormsby): Firearms background-check fees
  • HB 2681 (Rep. Ormsby): Cannabis-license fees

Also, it’s important to know the budget appropriation I secured to help protect the Prescott School District from being dissolved involves money left from funding that went to another school district in 2025. Being unspent dollars, they are not dependent on any of the tax increases or budget gimmicks that went into balancing the final version of the supplemental operating budget, which was adopted on the session’s final day.

My efforts this session to help small school districts apparently got the attention of the Washington Association of School Administrators – because next thing you know, I was invited to WASA’s recent spring conference for small school leaders to receive the “Outstanding Service to Small & Rural Schools” award. Speaking of small school districts, let me give a shout-out to the College Place and Kiona-Benton districts, which were just honored with the inaugural State Superintendent’s Award for Educational Excellence!

2026 session: The good…

More than 1,200 bills were on the table for consideration this year, between the Senate and House – although to be clear, many of those were carried over from the 2025 session.  Of those, 276 were passed by both chambers – around 22%.

Two of the bills I introduced will become law: SB 5862, which treats members of the state’s pre-1977 retirement plans fairly by granting them a cost-of-living increase, and SB 6065, which has to do with school-district finances and will apply immediately in our region to help the Prescott School District regain financial solvency.

Of the bills I co-sponsored, 14 will become law – and six have already been signed by the governor. Click here for that list.

Here are more of the bills that passed which I didn’t sponsor but supported when they came to the Senate floor for votes.

  • SB 5124 (Sen. Ron Muzzall, R-Oak Harbor): Improves patient access to post-acute care by establishing network adequacy standards for nursing homes and inpatient rehabilitation centers with Medicaid contracts.
  • SB 5552 (Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview): Requires the State Building Code Council to perform rulemaking applicable to kit homes by March 31, 2027.
  • SB 5827 (Sen. Chris Gildon, R-Puyallup): Allows service members, before retirement or prior to discharge, to apply for tentative civil service employment opportunities using a “pre-discharge certification” to be eligible for hire.
  • SB 5841 (Sen. Matt Boehnke, R-Kennewick): Streamlines the college financial aid process by making it easier for the Washington Student Achievement Council to view students’ progress. Requires schools to inform students about the Washington Opportunity Scholarship.
  • SB 5880 (Sen. Keith Wagoner, R-Sedro-Woolley): Expands toxicology testing by accredited labs to help manage the backlog.
  • SB 5886 (Sen. Boehnke): Protects a person’s personality rights without consent. This includes name, voice, signature, photograph or likeness, without written or oral, express or implied consent. Expands this protection to forged digital likeness.
  • SB 5977 (Sen. Nikki Torres, R-Pasco): Directs the Department of Children, Youth and Families to issue a report when a child near-fatality review is conducted and to post that report to the same webpage as fatality review reports.
  • SB 6076 (Sen. Keith Goehner, R-Dryden): Streamlines consumer-owned utility procurement requirements for clean energy generation, energy storage, transmission, and distribution projects.
  • SB 6087 (Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia): Provides limited liability to religious organizations for giving donations of children’s items to families in need.
  • SB 6149 (Sen. Jeff Wilson): Amends the definition of “rural county” for public facility funding purposes. Basically, this brings Cowlitz County back under the definition so they can still receive rural county economic development support.
  • SB 6268 (Sen. Paul Harris, R-Vancouver): Would require OSPI to maintain an online record of all financial decisions issued in response to special education community complaints in the prior 20 years.

…and the bad

Here are some of the notable bills that were approved by a majority of legislators – but not me:

  • SB 5855 (Sen. Javier Valdez, D-Seattle): Prohibits local, state, and federal law-enforcement officers from wearing masks while interacting with the public, with certain exceptions.
  • SB 5892 (Sen. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane): Prohibits county elections offices from publishing voter-registration records; must only divulge to Secretary of State. Now punishable by Class C felony.
  • SB 5925 (Sen. Drew Hansen, D-Bainbridge Island): Large expansion of state attorney general’s power to demand documents from businesses, law-enforcement agencies, school districts, other entities covered by laws related to wage laws, jail standards, and Keep Washington Working Act compliance.
  • SB 5917 (Sen. Jessica Bateman, D-Olympia): Bill allows distribution of state-purchased stockpile of chemical-abortion drugs (mifepristone and misoprostol) free of charge.
  • SB 5974 (Sen. John Lovick, D-Mill Creek): Anti-sheriff. Would allow the state Criminal Justice Training Commission, an unelected board appointed by the governor, to decertify sheriffs, which has the effect of removing them from office. This goes against the principle of local control and may also put sheriffs in a conflicting position while enforcing state law. However, they are also sworn to uphold the Washington State Constitution and the United States Constitution, both of which preempt state law.
  • SB 6081 (Sen. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle): involves privacy, including the unauthorized disclosure of sex-designation information and historic sex-designation changes in official government records.
  • SB 6182 (Sen. Bateman): Tax on insurance plans to make up for $8 million cut in funding to Planned Parenthood made by Democrats in 2025. All health insurance plans must pay 82 cents for every covered life the first year and 16.5 cents each year per covered life thereafter.
  • SB 6246 (Sen. Vandana Slatter, D-Bellevue): Would add additional regulatory requirements to “Emissions-intensive, trade-exposed” (EITE) facilities that have been required to lower their emissions on a schedule set by the Climate Commitment Act.
  • SB 6346 (Sen. Pedersen): Income Tax. Levies a 9.9% tax on income over $1 million per year — with the deduction contained in just one sentence, making it easily lowered by legislators in future years. Hits small businesses, penalizes married couples, projected to raise $3.2 billion per year. This was rushed through the Legislature in just 43 days. Intentionally blocks the people’s constitutional right to challenge the tax through a referendum.