Note: The following e-newsletter was sent to Sen. Jeff Wilson’s subscribers March 18, 2026. To subscribe to Sen. Wilson’s e-newsletters, click here.
Final gavels fell in the House and Senate Thursday at 8:23 p.m. to end our 60-day legislative session.
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Can you believe it? The Legislature passed an income tax. Fifteen years ago, that would have been unthinkable. Today the income tax is the signature accomplishment of a session that took us so far down the wrong path we’re going to have trouble finding our way back.
We’ve just ended our 2026 legislative session in Olympia, and I think everyone will be able to agree on one thing. This was a watershed year for the Legislature. This year’s income tax was the culmination of a political argument that has raged nearly a hundred years. Advocates of higher taxes and spending have been trying since the Great Depression to convince Washington voters that an income tax would be good for them. This was the year they gave up trying and just passed the darned thing.
We saw the same attitude on dozens of other issues, from legislation allowing Olympia to overturn elections to a budget that keeps spending skyrocketing and ensures we’ll be back in trouble next year. After eight years of one-party control in Olympia, majority Democrats have been emboldened, and they weren’t about to let a little problem like public opposition get in their way.
There were bright spots this year, as there are in any legislative session. We passed several pieces of legislation that will have a positive impact on Southwest Washington. But all in all this was another troubling session for those of us who believe the Legislature should serve the people and not the other way around.
Good news first —
A productive year for the 19th District
Wahkiakum County Ferry.
Let me give you the good news first. For our district, this session was a productive 60 days.
- SMOOTH SAILING: I succeeded in amending the supplemental transportation budget in committee to add a special $1 million appropriation for the Wahkiakum County Ferry. Money will restore a cut from the state last year and cover the ferry’s operating deficit. The funding will reduce the burden on Wahkiakum County taxpayers.
- KEEPING COWLITZ COUNTY RURAL: I passed Senate Bill 6149 preserving Cowlitz County’s rural designation, allowing it to compete with the state’s 28 other rural counties for public facilities and economic development funding. Recent population increases threatened to push us into the same league as King, Pierce and Spokane. Let’s keep the competition even.
- KIT HOMES, AT LAST: After four years of work, I finally got my kit-home bill to the governor’s desk. Senate Bill 5552 directs the state building code council to develop a new set of regulations for standardized kit homes, a promising construction method that hearkens back a century, and could help solve our current housing shortage.
- SNUFFING THE INITIATIVE KILLER BILL: I’m not sure I can claim credit for keeping this year’s version of the “Initiative Killer” bill from advancing to the Senate floor, but as ranking member on the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs and Elections Committee, I did everything I could to marshal opposition. Senate Bill 5973 would have made it so difficult for the people to exercise their right of initiative that ballot measures from the people would have become an endangered species. But we can’t rest easy. Odds are it will be back next year. The initiative process is the people’s best recourse against a costly and intrusive progressive agenda, and we can expect further efforts to put the people at a disadvantage.
- PROJECTS ACROSS THE DISTRICT: Working with my seatmates, Reps. Jim Walsh and Joel McEntire, we obtained capital budget funding for projects distributed throughout the 19th District. They include modernization of the Evaline School in Lewis County ($6 million), improvements to David Story Field at Lower Columbia College in Longview ($3 million), improvements to Julius A. Wendt Elementary School in Cathlamet ($850,000), upgrades to local emergency response systems ($410,000), reconstruction of the American Legion Veteran Housing and Resource Center in Raymond ($286,000), a new water main for South Forest Street in Westport ($250,000), Longview Fire Department response efficiency funding ($155,000), a new roof for the Eagle Pointe Village Apartments in Cathlamet ($144,000), a new roof for the Eagles Apartments in Raymond ($134,000), and restoration of the Skamokawa Grange Hall ($50,000).
And finally, I am delighted to report that one of our sheriffs gets to keep his badge. One of the worst bills to pass this session is Senate Bill 5974, which gives the Criminal Justice Training Commission the ability to remove elected county sheriffs from office. This unelected board, appointed by the governor, will be allowed to overrule the voters in any county of the state when they elect law enforcement officials who have an independent streak. It’s one way for the Olympia bureaucracy to force compliance with political mandates on policing policies and non-cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
The bill also threatened to send Pacific County Sheriff Daniel Garcia to the unemployment line. The bill imposes a long list of qualifications for sheriffs and police chiefs, and because Garcia was new to law enforcement when he was elected in 2022, he falls short of the bill’s requirement for five years of law enforcement experience. Luckily a striking amendment on the House floor grandfathered-in current officeholders. Garcia has the only certification he needs, from the voters of Pacific County. If they think he has enough experience, the state has no business saying otherwise. Thank goodness for small victories.
And now the bad news —
An unconstitutional income tax
A brief pause for protest on the Capitol steps: “First they came for the millionaires…” In all, 118,421 individuals signed in to the Legislature’s computer system to register their opposition to this year’s income tax proposal. It was an all-time record. Democrats declared the opposition must be fake, blamed it on bots, and passed the bill anyway.
Now, about that income tax: Has there ever been a bill that so flagrantly ignores the will of the people? Washington voters have been clear. We don’t want an income tax. We know it has nothing to do with “fairness” and everything to do with giving the Legislature more spending money. We’ve voted no on this terrible idea ten times since 1934. Shouldn’t that be enough?
But public opposition isn’t a problem anymore for our friends in the majority, because now they aren’t asking. By passing their income tax bill, they are deliberately flouting a 1933 state Supreme Court ruling that says a graduated income tax requires an amendment to the state constitution, and thus a public vote. A court challenge is a given. It’s all part of the plan. Our colleagues are betting that today’s more-liberal state Supreme Court, handpicked by successive Democratic governors, will overturn its 1933 ruling and allow an income tax to be forced on the people of Washington without their consent.
In a clever bit of misdirection, our colleagues describe Senate Bill 6346 as “a tax on millionaires,” because initially there would be a deduction for the first $1 million of income. Yet this new 9.9 percent tax will hit many people who aren’t millionaires, like small business owners who report business income on personal tax forms. Nothing prevents this tax from being expanded to the rest of us. All it takes is a simple majority vote.
During floor debate in the House and Senate, our colleagues rejected amendments to prevent expansion of the tax to the middle class. That should tell you where this is heading.
The nastiest part of this bill is what they call a “necessity clause.” This means the people can’t file a referendum to overturn it, and their only option is an initiative, which requires double the signatures. That’s not going to stop anyone. But it sure is high-handed, don’t you think?
A bloated state budget
So why do some people think we need an income tax? Mainly it’s because spending is out of control. Our friends in the majority can’t bring themselves to make cuts, establish priorities, or exercise restraint. Every penny the state spends is sacrosanct. This year’s budget continues the trend of bloated state budgets, bringing total spending for 2025-27 to $80.2 billion.
Think of it and be astounded. Spending has doubled in the last 10 years. It has risen twice as fast as the median household income, and it’s starting to get us in deep trouble. Last year this wild overspending put the state in a deficit, and our colleagues’ solution was a $12 billion tax increase, the biggest in the history of the state. Now comes the income tax. About half the money would be needed just to sustain all the new spending in the current budget.
It gets worse. Even with that income tax in place, the only way the next budget balances would be if the next Legislature keeps spending increases to less than three percent. That’s hardly realistic, given that the typical increase under current leadership is 15 percent. At current rates of spending we are more likely looking at a deficit next year of $7 billion to $10 billion. More taxes, anyone?
More power for government
The trend in legislation this year seemed to be more power for government at the expense of the people. Major policy bills included:
GOVERNMENT FISHING EXPEDITIONS: Senate Bill 5925 greatly expands the attorney general’s ability to go after businesses, individuals, non-profit organizations and law enforcement agencies, by expanding its power to make “civil investigative demands.” The AG’s office would be allowed to demand records and compel testimony without proof of a crimes, in hopes of finding a violation that could lead to charges.
ENDING TAXPAYER PROTECTIONS: House Bill 2442 dramatically expands the ability of cities and counties to raise taxes and fees by loosening longstanding safeguards for taxpayers. Among other things, the bill ends requirements for voter approval and removes limits on tax increases and their duration, and erodes voter oversight and accountability.
DOUBLING DOWN AGAINST ICE: Senate Bill 5855 escalates state hostilities against the feds by prohibiting Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers from wearing masks in Washington, sure to raise constitutional questions about federal supremacy. Masks would still be allowed for protesters.
BILLS THAT DIDN’T PASS are just as troubling – and any of them might be reintroduced next year. Other agenda-driven legislation included bills to prosecute violations of civil environmental laws as felony crimes (Senate Bill 5360), prevent law enforcement from shutting down homeless camps on public property (House Bill 2489), weaken Washington’s “Three Strikes” law (Senate Bill 5945) and give state government the power to interfere in local-government permitting processes for housing in the name of protecting tribal cultural resources (Senate Bill 5609).
The most inspiring thing about this year’s session also was the most heartbreaking. We were contacted by thousands of people this session who wanted nothing more than to be heard. Their message was simple. They don’t want Olympia to add to their burdens. I’m afraid this year’s Legislature wasn’t much help. We return to the Capitol on Jan. 11, 2027 for a 105-day session. Next year I hope we’ll remember to put the people first.
Thanks for reading!
Sen. Jeff Wilson
19th Legislative District
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