Note: The following e-newsletter was sent to Sen. Jeff Wilson’s subscribers Jan. 17, 2025. To subscribe to Sen. Wilson’s updates from Olympia, click here.

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Our 2025 legislative session got under way in Olympia Monday, and already it has a different feel.

We have a budget shortfall unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. I’m starting to get the idea that we’re finally getting somewhere on the major issues we started in previous sessions. But the biggest difference is something no one in Olympia ever would have expected – a dramatic change of tone as a new governor takes office.

 

A new governor dumbfounds Olympia

 

 

When Democrat Bob Ferguson won his race for governor last November, I think I shared the view of most Republicans. We weren’t expecting much. We saw it as another four years of Jay Inslee, who did so much to bring D.C.-style polarization to this Washington during his three terms as governor.

Certainly there was nothing in Ferguson’s record as attorney general that would lead us to believe otherwise. He was the most partisan attorney general this state has ever had. Ferguson frequently used the power of his office to promote the interests of his party – such as his persecution of initiative promoter Tim Eyman, his boast that he had sued the Trump Administration 97 times, and his creation of a Domestic Violent Extremism Task Force to put the screws to the right and ignore the left.

But in the last week our expectations have been turned upside down. Ferguson has been talking about the issues that matter to the people of Washington – the economy, public safety and better schools. He is insisting on across the board cuts before the Legislature considers tax increases. He is acknowledging that state regulation has helped create our state’s housing shortage and caused real estate prices to skyrocket. He has expressed opposition to a hugely damaging proposal from his own party for a wealth tax. He has pledged to work with us on emergency powers reform, and he has endorsed a Republican proposal for a $100 million grant program to put more cops on the street.

Nobody saw this coming. You should have seen the jaws falling open during his inaugural speech to the Legislature – from our side of the aisle and from the Democrats. An olive branch and a pledge of cooperation on key issues? That would have been unthinkable under Ferguson’s predecessor.

I am in the thick of two issues that will receive fresh consideration under the new regime. As ranking Republican member of the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs and Elections Committee, I have been deeply involved in our effort to place checks and balances on the governor’s emergency powers. Inslee’s high-handed one-man rule during the COVID crisis showed us that the governor should not hold supreme power indefinitely, and that the Legislature, as the voice of the people, needs to assert its voice. During his inaugural address, Ferguson promised to work with Senate Republican leadership on reform legislation. I am pleased to report that I am a co-sponsor of our new-and-improved emergency powers proposal for this session and I look forward to working on this bill in committee.

Ferguson also expressed support for affordable housing reforms, starting by asking state agencies to identify regulations and policies that could be streamlined. I’ll have more to say about this later in session. But this effort creates a climate favorable to one of my proposals, promoting the construction of kit homes. Apathy from the Inslee Administration killed this idea in previous sessions, but Ferguson appears to be lighting a fire under state agencies, and that’s where we need to start.

Whether this era of good feeling will last through the end of session is anyone’s guess. But after enduring 12 years of Inslee’s disdain for anyone who disagreed with him, his constant partisan potshots and his focus on matters of political ideology, this new approach is a breath of fresh air. For now I’m giving our new governor the benefit of the doubt. We’ll be happy to work with him as long as he is willing to work with us.

 

 

Wild spending puts state in the hole

The central issue of our 2025 session is a budget shortfall somewhere in the billions and billions of dollars, and the unrestrained spending of our Democratic colleagues that created the problem. State spending has doubled in the last decade, and our friends in the majority have created so many new obligations that we can’t cover them all. They say the only answer is a tax increase. They always do.

The Legislature has had shortfalls before, but never anything like this. Normally when we have a budget crisis it is the result of a national recession or other matters beyond our control. But this time there is no recession, and this crisis is entirely the result of irresponsible spending. Our friends assumed good times would last forever, they used one-time money to create permanent obligations, and they used accounting tricks to increase spending and avoid deposits into the Rainy Day Fund. All it took to put us in a hole was a slight decrease in economic growth. Anyone could have seen this coming.

State economists tell us we will have $5 billion more to spend next biennium, but that’s not enough. We would need another $6 billion or so to carry forward all the spending obligations our colleagues have created for us. Gov. Inslee, on his way out, claimed the total shortfall is a whopping $16 billion when future years are considered. Suffice it to say our side is unimpressed, and we would rather reduce spending than raise taxes to cover this mistake. Republicans will work to build coalitions with responsible members of the other party to put our spending back on track.

 

 

A busy session looms ahead

I’ve got a full plate this session. In addition to my role on the State Government committee, I continue to serve on the Senate Transportation Committee and, in a new assignment this year, I have joined the Senate Business, Financial Services, Gaming and Trade Committee.

So far I have introduced 18 bills and there are more to come. Many are holdovers from previous years, including new-and-improved kit-home legislation and protection against harassment for initiative signature gatherers. Other proposals are new to me this year, including a workgroup to study bridge collisions and a plan to put the state on year-round standard time. I am pleased to report that my bill to officially adopt the nickname “the Evergreen State” has already been approved by the State Government Committee for the third time, renewing our effort to get through the House. I’ll be telling you about these and more in weeks ahead.

Also worth noting: This session we are in new quarters in the just-opened Irv Newhouse Building on the Capitol Campus, INB 330. The new digs are quite an improvement over the old, and we hope you will be able to visit us in Olympia this session. Our most important duty is to serve you.

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

 

 

Sen. Jeff Wilson

19th Legislative District

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Contact me!

Telephone: (360) 786-7636

Email: Jeff.Wilson@leg.wa.gov

Mailing address: P.O. Box 40419 /Olympia, WA 98504

Leave a message on the Legislative Hotline: 1-800-562-6000

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