Priority Actions
Please note, Readers, that you are being asked to take action again on some matters for which you’ve already sent in comments. Yes, once again. That is because of the changes in status of each bill (or the budget). Each time you take action, except when it is a message for all Legislators, the action is directed toward a different group of legislators at a new phase in the bill’s life.
Thank you for taking action one more time!
Budget Struggles: Please Contact Your Legislators
Background
As the Legislature moves toward the final few days of the official 2025 session, the budget remains intensely at issue. How to address the forecast shortfall in revenue compared to the expectations of two years ago, combined with the increased need for direct services and increases in cost of doing business - confounded further by unknown but certain reductions in federal grants - provides much room for differences in opinion about what to do. Negotiations between House, Senate and the Governor’s office about how to create a balanced budget and whether emphasis should be on increasing new revenue vs making more cuts are ongoing and very passionate.
This conversation is in the context of Washington having the second most regressive tax structure in the nation, which means that the standard tax bases of sales and property tax are not lucrative because they are paid heavily by people at the lowest end of the income spectrum. A confounding problem is that property tax collection has been limited to one percent growth per year plus new development, which has not supported cost of doing business over the years.
It is also the case, in spite of the “no new taxes” advocates’ position, that Washington State’s taxpayers in aggregate are nowhere near the top of the nation in relationship of taxes to income.
Where to Go From Here
The House and Senate have each developed revenue proposals that would add progressive new revenue sources to more fairly balance the tax structure and generate more funding from those who have greater ability to pay. After initial proposals were announced, the House and Senate have come together with a reduced list of proposals that are similar but not identical, but do not include the wealth tax that the Governor has strongly opposed. Their goals generally are to preserve as much service capacity as possible by not making more cuts than absolutely necessary. It is not clear at this time which of the revenue proposals the Governor will support.
The League’s Position
The League of Women Voters of Washington supports action to obtain a balanced tax structure that is fair, adequate, flexible, and has a sound economic effect. The League also has positions on a variety of programs that encourage education, early childhood education, climate change response, equity in the criminal justice system, affordable housing, health care and much more. In that context, readers are urged to let Legislators know that the goal is to preserve as much service as possible by supporting progressive new revenue sources.
Specific Bills
Some of the revenue bills that are moving forward include these:
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SB 5813/HB 2082 Capital Gains & Estate Tax . This would Impose an additional 2.9% tax on capital gains over $1 million, increase tax on estates of those who died after January 1, 2025, and raise the estate tax exclusion from $2.1 million to $3 million.
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SB 5812/HB 2049 Investing in the state's paramount duty to fund K-12 education and build strong and safe communities. This bill would allow property tax growth beyond 1%, up to the combined rate of population growth + inflation, capped at 3% per year.
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SB 5815/HB 2081 Modifying business and occupation tax surcharges, rates, and the advanced computing surcharge cap, clarifying the business and occupation tax deduction for certain investments, and creating a temporary business and occupation tax surcharge on large companies. This bill would increase business and occupation taxes for sectors including manufacturing, retail, wholesaling and childcare, raise surcharges on large businesses with taxable income over $250 million, and raise surcharges on big banks and advance computer services.
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SB 5814/HB 2083 Modernizing the excise taxes on select services and nicotine products and requiring certain large businesses to make a one-time prepayment of state sales tax collection. This bill would expand the sales tax to include computer-related businesses, temporary staffing services, and advertising services, broaden the tobacco tax to cover products that contain nicotine and require a one-time prepayment of retail sales tax collections for businesses with $3 million or more in taxable sales during 2026.
For More Information
Read this week’s blog from the non-profit Washington State Budget & Policy Center, “To create a pathway for income equality, lawmakers must not repeat the mistakes of the past”, HERE.
⚠️Please let your Legislators know HERE that you support minimum reductions in services that people need and adoption of new progressive revenue that will increase funding capacity in the final budget that they adopt.
Support Local News—Urge Legislators to Call for a Vote on SB 5400
Key legislators remain interested in moving SB 5400 forward this session as they recognize the local news crisis is only worsening, further threatening Washingtonians' awareness of what is happening in our communities and our democratic system of government.
SB 5400 would generate about $20 million annually for qualifying local news outlets in to employ reporters. Funds, paid as grants based on the number of full-time reporters at a news outlet, would be generated by a nominal surcharge on for-profit social media platforms and search engines. Vitally important in these difficult budget times is that no General Fund dollars would be used.
Supporters say the bill would be the most significant effort to help keep Washingtonians informed and advance civic engagement since the 1972 passage of I-276, the open public records and campaign disclosure initiative.
Senate leaders have said if they hear from enough of their caucus members asking that it be voted on, they will bring it to the floor and send it to the House when the budget trailer bills move.
Meanwhile, lawmakers in Oregon are also looking at how to address the crisis as they consider the fate of SB 686, which would generate more than $120 million to support local news.
⚠️ Ask your legislators HERE to communicate their support for SB 5400 to Senate leadership and ask them to move the bill forward for a vote.
Action Alerts
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