Note: The following e-newsletter was sent to Sen. Leonard Christian’s subscribers April 18, 2025. To subscribe to Sen. Christian’s e-newsletters, click here.
Two ways to celebrate Tax Day: Legislative Democrats picked April 15 to release their latest proposal for the biggest tax increase in Washington history. The people found another way to mark the occasion – by staging a protest on the Capitol steps.
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
In the last couple of weeks, I’ve heard from readers who think I’ve been a bit too negative in these email updates from Olympia. Can things really be that bad? I must be exaggerating – right? Please?
I can’t blame anyone for thinking along these lines. I might have trouble believing it, too, if I didn’t have a desk on Senate floor where I can see it for myself. Since 2018 Democratic majorities in the House and Senate have driven policy to leftward extremes, aiming to satisfy “progressive” checklists at the expense of our economy, our state’s financial health, and the interests of the people of the state.
We finally hit the wall this year when the state ran out of money to do everything our colleagues wanted to do. So our friends decided to double down and enact the biggest tax increase in the history of Washington.
I’m not sure the majority caucuses care what anyone thinks about it. They have the votes. That’s what counts. Can you believe they released their latest plan for this biggest-ever tax increase on Tax Day, April 15? I don’t think we’ve ever had a legislative leadership so out of touch with the people of Washington.
Policy measures take a hard left
This is a good time to take stock. We are nearing the end of our 2025 session, with just nine days to go before adjournment on April 27. Most of our worst votes are ahead of us, but we have a pretty good idea what remains in play at this point. Many of this year’s signature bills seem designed more to address the narrow concerns of the Seattle activist community than the people of the state as a whole. Here’s my Top Ten:
- A gas-tax increase and a plan to ratchet up the requirements of Washington’s costly low-carbon fuel standards law, adding 54 cents to Washington’s already-high gas prices by 2028,
- Bills to undermine last year’s parental rights initiative, an insult to the thousands who circulated petitions and the 454,000 people who signed them,
- A plan to coerce school districts into following state directives on transgender participation in girls’ sports, diminishing local control in the process,
- Bills to reduce criminal sentences, on the adult and juvenile levels, in the name of “overcrowding” – a problem created by previous decisions to close prisons and cram older offenders into juvenile facilities,
- Bills to infringe Second Amendment rights, including a requirement that gun purchasers obtain a certificate showing they have completed a state-approved gun-safety training course, even military veterans who certainly know how to handle weapons already,
- A rent control proposal that will hamstring landlords with limits on rent increases, and eliminate any incentive for new construction to address the real problem, a shortage of housing,
- A bill giving more power to public health officials in the next pandemic, written so broadly and vaguely that it is as frightening as any disease,
- Unemployment benefits for striking workers, driving up costs for employers and signaling a deathknell for manufacturing in Washington state, and
- Making church authorities mandatory reporters of child abuse, an assault on religious liberty demonstrating disdain for separation of church and state.
Let’s give special recognition to HB 1696, a bill to expand a state “reparations” program to provide grants of public funds for mortgage down payments and closing costs. These gifts of taxpayer money would be made available only to people of certain races. This would be offensive even if state finances were sound, but at a time when our colleagues are claiming financial emergency, taxing the people to promote racial discrimination is an outrage.
Biggest tax increase of all time
Now let’s consider the $18.4 billion tax package our colleagues came up with this week. Keep in mind, state spending has doubled over the last decade, most of it since our colleagues took control. They ignored warnings and utilized notorious accounting tricks to goose spending to the max. We finally reached the limit this year. We have plenty of money coming in — $4.5 billion more than the last budget. But we would need another $7 billion to pay for all the new spending our friends authorized in previous years, and even more to pay for all the new items they would like to add this time around.
Rather than trimming the sails and correcting their course, our colleagues are determined to keep right on spending. Their latest proposal includes:
- Massive increases in property taxes that all of us would pay – rich and poor, owners and renters alike,
- Expanding the sales tax to service businesses currently exempt from the tax,
- Higher business and occupations taxes,
- Higher capital gains and estate taxes, and – in a shining example of creativity,
- A tax that applies only to Tesla. The bill for that one alone is $280 million. Take that, Elon Musk!
Our side worked with the same numbers and found something remarkable. We can avoid big new tax increases and harmful cuts if we eliminate new spending for non-emergency purposes. That’s all there is to it. We don’t need new taxes at all. You can see our proposal here.
43,680 people registered their opposition to a Senate proposal for property tax increases when it came up for a hearing two weeks ago, an all-time record. This is what these electronic signatures look like when printed out. Yet this outpouring of public opposition has done nothing to shake Democratic support for this ‘progressive tax policy’ that threatens to tax people out of their own homes.
Special session: Our best hope?
These progressive proposals sure don’t sound like progress to me, nor to anyone on my side of the aisle. Unfortunately, we don’t have the votes to stop them. There is one wild card. Gov. Bob Ferguson has expressed dismay at his own party’s financial irresponsibility, the scope of these tax increases, and the lack of meaningful spending reductions. Many of us are hoping this will translate into a budget veto, forcing our legislative session into overtime and provoking a more thoughtful approach to state spending.
But this seems a bit much to hope from one of the most liberal governors Washington has ever elected, and it would do nothing to protect the state from the torrent of horrendous policy bills headed to the governor’s desk. Are things really this bad? With sadness, I must report – I’m afraid they are.
Thanks for reading,
Leonard Christian
4th Legislative District
Contact me!
If you have a comment about state government, or a concern with a state agency, I hope you will reach out to my office. My most important duty is to serve you.
Mailing address: Post Office Box 40404, Olympia, WA 98504
Email: Leonard.Christian@leg.wa.gov
Phone: (360) 786-7606
Leave a message on the Legislative Hotline: 1 (800) 562-6000
