What to expect from the 2025 Washington Legislature

Washington state lawmakers will convene in Olympia this week for a 105-day marathon legislative session. Leaders offered a preview of their priorities Thursday as they gear up for lawmaking and budget writing, as the clock starts on the new fiscal cycle July 1.

Five panels of leaders, including House and Senate leadership, budget and transportation leaders, outgoing Gov. Jay Inslee and Democratic Gov.-elect Bob Ferguson spoke on new proposals for the upcoming year and how they plan to fill a massive hole in the state budget.

Here are four takeaways from the legislative preview:

Democrats and Republicans are mostly in agreement over spending more money on police

As part of his budget proposal released Thursday, Ferguson, sticking to his campaign promises, is suggesting a $100 million investment over two years for the hiring and retention of law enforcement officers in the state, noting he believes it is not acceptable Washington ranks “dead last” with the numbers of law enforcement officers per capita.

Republicans agreed Thursday.

“We have a severe public safety crisis facing Washington, and the Legislature needs to do things about it,” said House Minority Leader Drew Stokesbary, R-Auburn.

Stokesbary added that Republicans this session will have bills to provide funding for police officers in local municipalities in order to increase hiring around the state.

A bill has already been prefiled in the Senate by Sen. Jeff Holy, R-Cheney, and Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond. Ferguson noted Thursday he was looking forward to working with Holy on the legislation.

The public also seems to agree with lawmakers about the need to hire more officers. According to a Cascade PBS/Elway poll released Thursday and presented at the event by pollster H. Stuart Elway, 73% of those polled said they were in favor of proposals to increase funding for local governments to hire more police. That number includes Democrats, Republicans and independents.

There is talk of new taxes, but how much momentum is uncertain

Taxes will be a highly contentious topic this session as Democrats and Republicans debate the best approach to the potential $12 billion to $16 billion deficit facing the state over the next four years.

Ferguson opposes a wealth tax, unlike some of his Democratic colleagues in the Legislature, and said Thursday his attention heading into the start of the session is on cuts and maximizing efficiency, not revenue.

According to Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, no tax proposals have been prioritized or ruled out by Democrats yet. A missent email last month provided insight into taxes Senate Democrats are considering, including a wealth tax and statewide tax on high salaries similar to Seattle’s JumpStart tax.

Pedersen said there have been active discussions on these taxes, as well as a tax on some businesses’ gross incomes in the state, and alluded that more options might be on the table as well.

Speaker of the House Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, said the focus in the House is on scrubbing the budget before turning to taxes, but did not rule out new tax proposals.

Republican lawmakers will likely object to new tax proposals, and Stokesbary raised alarms that wealth and payroll taxes would drive people and businesses out of the state.

“They’re going to wreak havoc on Washington’s economy and make it that much harder to avoid a budget crisis in the future,” Stokesbary said.

Pedersen pointed to the outcome of initiatives on the November ballot related to the capital gains tax, Climate Commitment Act and WA Cares program as a “decisive verdict from the people whom we serve, that they prefer us to raise revenue when it’s dedicated to things that they see needs for.”

Rent stabilization bill is likely to come back

Nearly 70% of voters in the latest Cascade PBS/Elway poll said they favor limiting the amount landlords can raise rent, but Democrats and Republicans strongly disagree about the approach.

House Democrats remain interested in some form of rent stabilization. Last year’s attempts, which would have limited annual rent increases to 7%, died in the Senate after failing to meet an important cutoff deadline. A similar measure introduced in the Senate also failed to clear legislative hurdles.

A new rent stabilization bill will likely originate from the House and move quickly, according to leadership.

“We passed it off the floor of the House last year, and we’ll pass it off the floor this year,” Jinkins said.

Pedersen believes there is support among Senate Democrats, particularly if the Legislature can also help increase construction to push down prices over time.

However, Pedersen indicated Thursday the issue won’t be tackled until the second half of the session “regardless of when the House sends it to us.”

Both Senate Minority Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, and Stokesbary oppose rent stabilization measures, labeling it a “short-term solution.” To fix the housing affordability issues, “we need to build more to drive prices down and have affordable access for everyone,” Braun said.

Parties disagree over the causes of the budget deficit

Democratic and Republican leaders are likely to remain at odds over the root cause of the deficit throughout the session.

Inslee has rejected the Republican suggestion the deficit is a result of overspending. Instead, he attributes it to an increase in caseloads.

Braun said relying on stimulus money, carrying balances forward and “budget tricks” led to the current situation.

“As a former budget writer, I know there’s a temptation to find a little extra money under the cushions and spend it on something that’s a good idea,” Braun said. “There are a ton of good ideas, but at some point, we have to make hard decisions and make sure we live within our means.”

Stokesbary also critiqued the Legislature, saying lawmakers have failed to revisit and reevaluate the efficiency of existing programs.

“We very rarely go back and look and study if we’ve actually achieved and solved the problem that we’re trying to solve,” he said.

Jinkins’ remarks were similar, attributing the deficit to not just a “slowdown in revenue growth, but it’s an increase in caseload growth.” Although Jinkins agrees with Stokesbary that the “effectiveness of investments” should be evaluated, scrubbing funding from areas like behavioral health, K-12 education, and Medicaid could be damaging, she said.