The following e-newsletter was sent to Sen. Leonard Christian’s subscribers March 14. To subscribe to Sen. Christian’s e-newsletters, click here.
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
I’m looking forward to seeing you Saturday at my town hall meeting in Spokane Valley!
We’ll have plenty to talk about. Our subject is the 2025 legislative session, now in progress in Olympia. We’ll be discussing the legislation likely to emerge from the state Legislature this year, and how it will affect you, your family and your pocketbook. I’m looking forward to your questions, and I am interested in the comments and concerns you wish to share.
We have just passed the midpoint of our 105-day legislative session, which is scheduled to end April 27. This week the Legislature passed one of our most significant deadlines, the “House of Origin” cutoff. I’ll tell you more about that in a moment. But what it means is that we now know which bills are likely to provoke floor battles in the weeks ahead. At the same time, we are gearing up for a bruising battle on the budget, as our counterparts in the majority party prepare to unleash plans for massive tax increases.
We’ll be talking about all of this and more. I am looking forward to this opportunity to meet you in person. I hope you can make it!
4th Legislative District Town Hall
with Sen. Leonard Christian
Sun City Church, 10920 E. Sprague Ave.
Doors open at 9:30 a.m.
Meeting runs from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Budget debate begins in earnest next week
Majority pushes massive tax increases — look out!
This week the main event of our legislative session finally begins as our attention turns to the state budget. And what a knock-down drag-out fight this is going to be! The bill has finally come due for years of irresponsible spending by our counterparts in the majority party. Unfortunately, they expect the people of Washington to pick up the tab, in the form of massive tax increases, and they see no reason to rein in the spendthrift ways that got us into this mess in the first place.
This issue is the most important thing we will consider between now and our scheduled adjournment on April 27. We have been talking about it for months, of course. But the debate really kicks off on Tuesday when the state Economic and Revenue forecast council releases a new projection of state tax collections, showing us precisely how much we can expect over the next two years. Here’s what you need to know as the debate begins.
- The deficit is about $6.6 billion. It’s not $10 billion or $16 billion, or any of the enormous numbers the majority is claiming. This is a scare tactic designed to soften up the state for a tax increase. These enormous figures include new spending approved in prior years that we can do without, as well as wish-lists for even more spending over the next two years. The $6.6 billion figure is how much more we will need to maintain current programs, on top of what we will be taking in. This may change a tad when the forecast comes out, but not by much.
- This is entirely the result of irresponsible spending. Usually budget crises are the result of recession or some external cause. But this crisis is owned entirely by our majority colleagues. Since 2019 they have spent billions more than the state had coming in, ignoring warnings, wiping out reserves, and engaging in creative accounting maneuvers that took the state over the brink. What really brought this on was a lack of self-restraint.
- Taxes are the first resort for our majority colleagues. This is no secret. A widely disseminated majority-party memo at the start of session indicates they wish to scapegoat the wealthy as “villains” in this drama and make them pay. Yet their tax proposals also hit the middle class and the poor, directly and indirectly.
- We can balance the budget without new taxes. This week the Senate Republican Caucus released our “$ave Washington” budget proposal showing how it can be done. We can avoid harmful cuts to important state programs by avoiding new spending and enacting obvious efficiencies. This isn’t rocket science. You can learn more about our proposal here.
Do we really need more marijuana shops?
To see speech, click here
This was one of my favorite speeches during our marathon floor sessions in the Senate over the last two weeks. Senate Bill 5758 aims to open up more locations for marijuana shops when they are operated by a “socially and economically disadvantaged individual” as defined by the Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises. Say what? Washington needs more places for people to buy marijuana? How did this become an issue of social justice? I was proud to speak against the bill, and I regret to report it passed the Senate 31-17 and is now under consideration in the House.
Cutoff narrows issues for remainder of session
Action turned to the House and Senate floors as we approached what we call the “House of Origin” cutoff. By Wednesday, lawmakers had to pass policy bills introduced in either chamber and send them on for further consideration. Bills that didn’t get a vote are considered “dead.” There are many exceptions and many ways to revive dead bills, but the important thing is that this narrows down the issues we will consider for the remainder of the session.
Two of my bills are advancing: I am pleased to report that two bills I introduced survived the cutoff and have moved to the House for further consideration. They are:
- SB 5172 – Providing greater management flexibility for fire districts by creating procedures for dissolution of civil service systems. Passed Senate 47-1. Now in the House.
- SB 5506 – Establishing a rulemaking process for the Department of Children, Youth and Families to regulate living accommodations at residential private schools. Passed Senate 49-0. Now in the House.
What’s left? This is shaping up as another year of legislation driven by ideology. Although 82 percent of bills in the Senate passed by unanimous or near-unanimous votes, there were 29 measures that were decided along party lines. These include bills providing unemployment insurance for striking workers, bills that infringe on constitutional rights and bills that force our schools to teach controversial political theories as fact. You can read my take on the highlights and lowlights of the session’s legislation here – what I call “the good, the sad and the ugly.”
Thanks for reading,
Leonard Christian
4th Legislative District
Contact us!
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