(The Center Square) – House and Senate Republicans say they have a “front row seat to a train wreck” next month as the Legislature prepares to fill a $2 billion state deficit with more taxes amid record spending.
State lawmakers will convene for the 2026 legislative session on Jan. 12, but will only have 60 days to fill the shortfall, compared to the 105-day caucus this year. Democrats passed the largest tax increase in state history last April to fill another deficit estimated at around $16 billion, with almost no time to spare.
The majority submitted its revenue proposals 12 days before the end of the last session, with little input from Republicans, who wanted to balance spending without new taxes. Facing another deficit, rumors are milling about a potentially unconstitutional income tax, with a $5 billion proposal already on the table.
“You know, Republicans have got ideas as well to actually help us get out of this, but it comes down to the average citizen,” Sen. Leonard Christian, R-Spokane Valley, told The Center Square, alluding to repeated tax hikes as of late. “Are you broke yet? Gosh, you probably will be after the 2026 session, that’s for sure.”
When asked, Christian doubted whether the state can overcome its budget woes in the next five to 10 years under the current majority party. He recognized that many people vote without considering what taxes Democrats will pass to expand spending and instead focus on the increasingly polarized climate.
Americans saw that division play out over the summer during nationwide protests against the Trump administration, giving Christian an idea. He proposed a tax hike of his own on Tuesday that would tax businesses that hire paid protesters, though Christian acknowledged the bill is “a little bit facetious.”
Democrats often reject claims of paid protesters as a myth, and the Associated Press, PolitiFact and FactCheck.org all claim that Craigslist posts advertising such opportunities last summer were a gag.
However, some organizations, such as Crowds on Demand, do offer such services, though it’s unclear if they operate in Washington state. Christian said he saw a few of the same people in multiple states while watching the protests last summer and questioned how they could afford to miss so much work.
“I don’t know any paid protesters,” Rep. Shaun Scott, D-Seattle, said Tuesday after proposing billions of dollars in new taxes on the steps of the Capitol, “so it’s going to be a difficult bill to take seriously.”
Christian doesn’t expect his bill to receive a hearing and said a coworker across the aisle even told him as much. Last session, Democrats approved a tax on temporary staffing services, which also applies to public schools, so Christian questioned why the majority wouldn’t want to impose it on protesters, too.
“If they don’t exist, then it won’t impact [the budget], Christian said, arguing the state could assume the tax would raise nothing as a test. “If they do exist, the Department of Revenue will figure it out.”
Gov. Bob Ferguson has voiced reluctance to sign any additional sales or property tax hikes and hinted at “significant reductions” ahead during a press conference in October. He also described raising taxes as a “last resort” in January 2025 before signing the largest increase in state history just a few months later.
Ferguson will release his budget proposal later this month, but Republicans don’t know what to trust.
Rep. Chris Corry, deputy leader of the Washington State House Republicans, said it wouldn’t surprise him if any labor unions paid the people standing around Scott on Tuesday as he unveiled his tax proposal.
“Unions have a habit of doing that, and ironically, it’s a lot of the public sector unions that are backing this program by Rep. Scott, because they’re the biggest beneficiaries,” Corry told The Center Square.
The progressive revenues that Scott proposed, along with other taxes his party is eyeing, would fall on major corporations and the wealthy. However, businesses with 50 employees would also be forced to pay the tax, and the proposal would expand the authority of counties to impose new taxes on corporations.
“Washington is one of the wealthiest states in the wealthiest nation in human history,” Scott wrote in a news release. “The idea that we ‘can’t afford’ childcare, transit, or housing is absurd. We can afford all of it – when the corporations and ultra-wealthy who have benefited the most contribute what they owe.”
Several Democrats offered support for future wealth tax proposals during the final debates last spring.
Republicans warned last session that similar proposals risk pushing major businesses out of the state and the tax revenue they generate. Rep. Matt Marshall, R-Eatonville, said he wants to start the process with the 2013 budget this year and make increases based on inflation and the state’s top needs.
While Democrats did cut spending by billions of dollars this year, along with their $9.4 billion tax hike over four years, a 116% spending increase since 2015 overshadows those reductions. In comparison, inflation has only increased by about 35% since then as the state budget skyrocketed.
“The governor has come out and said that he’s going to veto anything that increases sales or property taxes,” Marshall told The Center Square. “What he didn’t mention, and what is scary, is the wealth tax and other capital gains taxes, long-term rentals, there are several areas that I see him still approving.”
Marshall doesn’t expect Ferguson or the Democrats to include more Republican input in their budgets next year either, and neither does Christian, who said he can’t trust Ferguson after the last session.
“As I said earlier,” Christian told The Center Square, “I think I got a front row seat to a train wreck.”
