Note: The following e-newsletter was sent to Sen. Leonard Christian’s subscribers July 3, 2026. To subscribe to Sen. Christian’s e-newsletters, click here.
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
This weekend we celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday, and to borrow a line from Steve Martin, it’s hard not to get sentimental whenever the semiquincentennial rolls around. We might squabble about politics, but America remains a beacon of freedom and prosperity for the world. Let us be proud of our nation’s progress. Let us show our respect for a political system that allows each of us to achieve to the best of our abilities. And let us protect the principles that have kept our nation strong — economic freedom, individual rights and equality under the law, regardless of race or background.
It’s a grand old flag – long may it wave! And I hope you have a safe and enjoyable holiday.
A victory for common sense at the U.S. Supreme Court
High court says states can bar boys from girls’ sports
In Washington, D.C. this week, it was as if the clouds had parted, the sun came out, and good sense finally prevailed – at least where the boys-in-girls’-sports issue is concerned. In cases from Idaho and West Virginia, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled states can ban boys from playing on girls’ sports teams at publicly funded schools.
This ruling is worth a read. It’s like the fairy tale of the emperor who wears no clothes. The decision states the obvious things that so many people in the political arena want us to ignore. It points out there are inherent physical differences between boys and girls that no political ideology can erase. It observes that boys will always have a competitive advantage, regardless of hormone therapy, and forcing girls’ teams to admit boys defeats the entire purpose of separate leagues for female athletes. The court also notes that girls face a higher risk of injury if they are required to play against the boys.
To all these arguments, we might say “duh,” but the problem is that our Legislature’s majority party doesn’t want to acknowledge them. The situation in Washington is rather different than in Idaho and West Virginia. Our majority colleagues aren’t trying to protect girls’ sports. Instead, they are backing the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction in its effort to pressure school districts to put boys on girls’ teams. It’s not clear how this ruling will affect Washington, because the ruling says states have the right to decide policy on this issue. Washington voters forwarded an initiative to the Legislature this year banning boys in girls’ sports, and Democrats refused to consider it, but this effort has yet to play out.
Gives lie to charges of bigotry
At the very least, this ruling should dispel the repugnant argument we hear in Olympia that opposition to boys in girls’ sports is a matter of hatred, intolerance, bigotry and ignorance. Activists will find it difficult to dispute findings like this one: “Allowing a biological male athlete to compete on a girls’ team necessarily displaces or disadvantages a female athlete – replacing her on the roster, knocking her out of the starting lineup, depriving her of a medal and the like.”
The Supreme Court points out that boys always have the option of trying out for boys’ teams. And if some boys would prefer to compete against girls, that’s not a problem requiring court intervention. The ruling notes dryly that federal Title IX regulations “cannot and do not guarantee every student a spot on a team’s roster.”
Now here’s more good news. The high court also announced this week that it will hear a challenge to Washington’s 2024 “transgender runaway” law that keeps parents in the dark when minor children run away from home to pursue sex-change treatment. These decisions protect us from fringe philosophies, affirm our faith in our political institutions, and show us there is hope after all. It is my firm belief that children belong to their parents and not the government.
Another budget disaster, coming right up
Credit: Pixabay via Picryl.com
Despite the record-breaking tax increases of the last two years, a new revenue forecast shows Washington is headed for big financial trouble next year, for the third year in a row. State economists are telling us the state economy looks weaker than it did in their February forecast. One of the reasons, of course, is the mass exodus of business and high-net-worth individuals from Washington state due to the big new taxes passed by legislative Democrats over the last two sessions. Sometimes I get the idea our friends got tired of prosperity and wanted to try the alternative.
This new forecast, released last Friday, is really sort of a wash. It’s up $554 million for the current biennium and down $461 million for 2027-29, and that’s really no difference at all in a budget of $80 billion. Honestly, we have about enough to make it through the next budget cycle without a tax increase, as long as we are careful about spending and don’t break the bank again.
But expecting our colleagues to keep spending increases to two percent is a little much when the average increase under their leadership is 15 percent. Fiscal responsibility just isn’t their bag. Since the Legislature fell under one-party control in 2018, we have seen dramatic increases in state spending, one budget after the next, to the point that spending has doubled. To pay for it, they’ve raised billions in taxes. Last session they even raided police and firefighter pension accounts to keep spending on overdrive. Now the governor is telling us he’ll do everything to avoid tax increases next year. This proves mainly that our colleagues are contemplating tax increases again. Meanwhile, Amazon, Boeing, Starbucks and other major Washington employers are saying they’ve had enough as they shift high-paying jobs elsewhere and curtail operations in this state.
There is one funny thing in all this. In his effort to convince the state he is a fiscal conservative, the governor is declaring that he will propose a balanced budget for 2027-29 with no new taxes. What he’s not saying is that this is something state law already requires him to do. He is NOT saying he will veto new taxes passed by the Legislature, which is about the only thing he could say that could slow the economic death spiral now in progress.
Skyrocketing lawsuit payouts are a big red flag
State expects self-insurance fund to go $1.7 billion in the red
Credit: Pix4Free.org
Fast-rising lawsuit payouts by the state are turning yesterday’s problems into a nightmare for today. State officials said last week they expect cash-flow problems to put the state self-insurance fund in the red by as much as $1.7 billion over the next year. That’s up from $1 billion this year. Last year the state agreed to pay a record $500 million to settle lawsuits, which was shocking enough, but these new red-ink projections show state officials expect the trend to reach budget-busting levels.
From statehood to 2015, settlements never exceeded $100 million annually. Now they are five times that and climbing. Part of the problem are state policies that practically open the state till to the trial lawyers by making it easier to sue and win. Coincidentally, the trial lawyers are among the top contributors to Democratic campaigns.
But we also have to acknowledge these settlements often reflect cases of appalling negligence and abuse. The vast majority of these lawsuits concern the Department of Children, Youth and Families and its predecessors, for failing to adequately protect the children under its care. Some of these cases are decades old and some are recent. The fundamental problem is state-agency mismanagement.
Republicans have proposed a number of remedies. One good idea would be to eliminate joint and several liability, under which the state can be required to pay 100 percent of a claim even if it is only 1 percent responsible for damages. Other proposals would require hearings or standalone legislation for settlements in excess of $1 million. This at least would force our colleagues to pay attention and maybe even hold people accountable. But the best solution, of course, would be for DCYF to do its job right, and put the protection of children first.
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. The session is over, but I serve you year-round.
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