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Dear friends and neighbors,
As we’ve done in previous years, here is our special edition newsletter focused on the three budgets. We don’t have enough room to include all the investments made to keep essential programs, services and projects running, but we hope these highlights will give you a comprehensive picture of where we are and what we can expect in the coming months.
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A BALANCED APPROACH TO MINIMIZE HARM
Unlike the federal government, our State Constitution requires the Legislature to pass a balanced Operating Budget. And contrary to what some people believe, budget writers do start working on it very early in session. It is the most important task we must accomplish as lawmakers and one of the most difficult as well.
This year’s work was made harder because we started the year with a significant budget deficit caused by slowing revenue growth, increased demand for services, inflation, and unpredictability at the federal level. With that in mind, our budget team spent months combing through the budget to find efficiencies and places we could cut while still preserving people’s access to food, health, and shelter. Despite our efforts, we still needed to find new sources of revenue and we are including a section with that information further down.
The final, $77.1 billion negotiated budget reflects our harm reduction approach by maintaining essential programs and services for working families and our most vulnerable residents. Here are some of the highlights:
CHILDREN, YOUTH & FAMILIES
- Family Child Care Agreement: $376 Million
- Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) Rate Increase: $40 Million
- Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT) Multiplier Increase: $36 Million
- Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration (JRA) Capacity & Security: $51 Million
K-12 EDUCATION
- Maintains funding for school meals and summer EBT for kids: $45 Million
- Increases Special Education funding: $775 Million
- Funds increased Local Effort Assistance: $200 Million
- Increases funding for materials, supplies and operating costs: $215 Million
HIGHER EDUCATION & WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
- Avoids tuition increases at our public two- and four-year colleges
- Maximum Washington College Grant awards funded at 60% median family income: $45 Million
- Continues the WSU Native Scholarship Program: $2.2 Million
HEALTH CARE
- Continues funding for the Apple Health for Immigrants program
- Protects funding for the Cascade Care Savings Program: $84 Million
- Continues the Health Homes Program in 2026: $15 Million
BEHAVIORAL HEALTH & SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER
- Funds Phase 4 of the Trueblood Settlement to continue supporting people through and out of the forensic mental health and criminal court systems: $65 Million
- Increased funding for 988 & Crisis Facility Grants for three centers: $47 Million
LONG TERM CARE & DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES
- Consumer-Directed Employment, Agency Parity & Adult Family Home Agreement: $833 Million
- Funds Nursing home rates and transitions clients to community settings: $55 Million
- Maintains Assisted Living Bridge Rates & increases Community Residential Rates by 2%: $62 Million
HOMELESSNESS & HOUSING
- Housing & Homelessness Increases: $145 Million
- Youth Homelessness Diversion Funding: $6 Million
- Tenant Right to Counsel Program: $3 Million
HUMAN SERVICES & POVERTY REDUCTION
- Funds Food Security & Assistance: $128 Million
- Immigrant, Refugee, and New Arrival Supports: $40 Million
PUBLIC SAFETY, LEGAL AID & CORRECTIONS
- Community Reinvestment Program: $110 Million
- Local Law Enforcement Grants: $100 Million
- Reentry Center Conversions: $26 Million
- Crime Victims Support: $27 Million
- Public Defense Grants: $13.5 Million
CLIMATE, CLEAN ENERGY & NATURAL RESOURCES
- Wildfire Response, Suppression, and Recovery: $22 Million
- Invasive Species Prevention: $11 Million
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A More Progressive Tax Code for Washington
Democrats in the legislature continued their work to create a tax code that is fairer to working Washingtonians. In such a difficult budgetary environment, our state needs revenue sources that are stable and less reliant on regressive taxes, like the sales tax.
Re-imagining investment in public safety
We need to re-envision how we invest in public safety. House Bill 2015 places the needs and well-being of our communities at the forefront while demanding greater accountability from law enforcement. It prioritizes the values of transparency, fairness, and community-centered policing shape the future of public safety.
Funding Washington’s paramount duty
Our schools are struggling with budget constraints. House Bill 2049 increases the per-pupil limit for school enrichment levies, allowing local districts to vote on increases to support local school needs, including classroom and teacher supports, increased student services, and mental health and counseling programs.
Ensuring high-grossing businesses help fund community needs
House Bill 2081 changes our Business & Occupation (B&O) tax in several ways, making it more progressive and ensuring some of the world’s largest corporations pay what they owe. It will help protect Washingtonians from harmful cuts to education, public safety, and the safety net, and invest in critical public services that keep people healthy and support our economic future.
Modifying Washington’s capital gains excise tax and estate tax
Senate Bill 5813 modifies the capital gains tax, creating a tiered structure with an additional 2.9% surcharge on profits above $1 million from the sale of stocks, bonds, and other financial assets. For the estate tax, it excludes smaller estates up to $3 million in value – indexed to inflation moving forward – and creates a more progressive structure with higher rates on larger estates. The revenue is dedicated to K-12 schools, early learning, childcare, and higher education through the Education Legacy Trust Account.
Closing ineffective and obsolete tax exemptions
Finally, Senate Bill 5794 repeals tax exemptions if the public policy objective wasn’t met, its unclear it was met, or if the exemption is legally obsolete. It also applies Business & Occupation tax to state-chartered credit unions if they merge with a bank regulated by the Department of Financial Institutions and applies B&O to revenue from the rental of storage units. By ending tax preferences that are not effective, Washington state will have more revenue for the essential services our communities need and keep Washingtonians healthy, housed, and fed.
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INVESTING IN INFRASTRUCTURE STRENGTHENS OUR COMMUNITIES
The state’s Capital Budget is responsible for funding the construction of needed infrastructure, like housing, school buildings, behavioral health facilities, and other important projects, while also creating jobs.
This biennium’s Capital Budget made several key statewide investments, including:
- $782 Million in housing and homelessness programs.
- A record-setting $605 Million for the Housing Trust Fund – directly funding the construction of affordable housing.
- $1 Billion for K-12 school construction and early learning facilities – including $202 Million for small district and tribal compact schools, $151 Million for school seismic safety, and $100 Million for early learning facilities.
- $130 Million in grants for projects expanding behavioral health care capacity in community settings.
Locally, these are some of the projects in our communities that received funding:
- $1 Million for construction needs at the Rise Up Academy Early Learning Center.
- $810,000 for work at the Mariner Community campus which will include affordable housing, community gathering and learning spaces, and will be centered around a public library.
- $681,000 to expand the Martha Lake Park by nearly an acre.
- $412,000 for Port of Edmonds board walk repair.
- $103,000 for needed improvements at the Edmonds Food Bank.
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MAINTENANCE, PRESERVATION & SUSTAINABILITY TO KEEP US MOVING
The state’s Transportation Budget funds development of transportation infrastructure, which includes transit, rods and ferries, to ensure we can commute and travel safely, as well as move goods efficiently across Washington. Due to budget challenges, no new projects were funded in this budget, but it does continue to fund ongoing work on projects in our area, these are some of the highlights:
- Lynnwood Link Improvements at I-5 and 164th St.
- The Snohomish County Applied Sustainable Aviation Evaluation Center.
- The SR 99 Revitalization Project.
- Pedestrian & Traffic Improvements on SR 525.
- Improvements at the Edmonds and Mukilteo Ferry Terminals.
The $15.2 billion budget also funds hybrid ferry vessel procurement and additional electrification costs. We are committed to working with transportation budget writers – including our seatmate, Senator Liias – to continue to fight for funding to improve our ferry system so our region can remain connected.
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KEEP IN TOUCH!
We hope you found this information useful. To delve deeper into the budgets, please visit www.fiscal.wa.gov where you can look up specific investments by agency, and you can also take a look at the project maps. And if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact our offices.
Sincerely,
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Rep. Strom Peterson Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self
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