State lawmakers face major challenges in 2026 session
State lawmakers convened in Olympia Monday for the start of a 60-day legislative session that will likely involve wrestling with an estimated $2 billion budget shortfall, housing and affordability issues, tax restructuring, and much more.
OLYMPIA – State lawmakers from across Washington convened in Olympia Monday for the start of a 60-day legislative session that will likely involve wrestling with an estimated $2 billion budget shortfall, housing and affordability issues – and impacts imposed on them by Washington’s environmental policies, tax restructuring, addressing damaged infrastructure caused by heavy rains and flooding in December, and much more.
Any decisions that get made will largely depend on Democrats, who hold significant majorities in both chambers. They outnumber Republicans by a 30-19 margin in the Senate and 59-39 in the House of Representatives, plus a trifecta with Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson now starting his second year in that office.
Ferguson has endorsed some form of income tax on persons earning more than $1 million annually, believing it would affect only a small percentage of state residents, survive any likely legal challenges, and eventually provide revenue of $3 billion a year.
But not in the near term to help with the current budget shortfall.
Ferguson has also said his support of the “millionaire’s tax” would hinge on expanding the state’s current Working Families Tax Credit, eliminating the Business and Occupation Tax on small businesses, and providing sales tax exemptions on personal hygiene products, baby products, and lower-cost clothing.
In central Washington, the 13th District’s trio of experienced GOP lawmakers – Sen. Judy Warnick and Rep. Tom Dent of Moses Lake and Rep. Alex Ybarra of Quincy – will need at least some Democratic support in bills they are pursuing. Their district includes all of Grant and Kittitas counties, plus parts of Adams and Douglas counties.
On their respective legislative pages, all three say the state is facing significant challenges.
“The economy is at the top of everyone’s mind right now,” Warnick said.
“Partisanship has gotten in the way of progress and this has not served (constituents) well,” said Dent.
“It’s crucial that we protect, nurture, and grow the economy for us and future generations,” said Ybarra.
All three indicated that lawmakers need to ease regulations on employers, support agriculture and water resources, and boost education.
Warnick is a lead sponsor on SB 5928, sought at the request of the state Insurance Commissioner’s office. If enacted, the bill seeks to increase transparency and justification from insurers and underwriters on how they create wildfire risk scores that affect property insurance premiums and what consumers can do to improve that. The measure has a companion bill in the House, HB 2277, with both Republican and Democratic co-sponsors.
Ybarra is a lead sponsor of House Bill 2285, which calls for an assessment of the state’s “ambitious policies to decarbonize all sectors of the state’s economy by 2050” and whether that effort threatens the adequacy of energy supplies in the region in coming years. The measure says the Northwest is “dangerously close to experiencing significant energy supply disruption” because of unprecedented demands for electricity, which could lead to blackouts unless there are reliable supplemental energy sources such as natural gas. The Senate will be considering companion bill SB 5991.
Warnick and Ybarra are also co-sponsoring companion bills SB 5931 and HB 2311. As proposed, the measures would expand co-chair lengths from one to two years on the Workforce Education Investment Accountability and Oversight Board, require a quorum of the board to meet at least four times a year, establish a student achievement council, and move the board’s annual legislative reporting date from Aug. 1 to Dec. 31.
Dent, a local rancher and professional pilot, is sponsoring several aviation-related bills pertaining to wildland fire response funding, low-carbon alternative jet fuel, reducing the impact of a luxury aircraft tax, and establishing the Washington division of the Civil Air Patrol as part of the state’s military department (respectively HB 2104, HB 2322, HB 2347, and HB 2357).
Dent is also sponsoring measures regarding state timber sale processes (HB 2348) and auditing of county forest board lands (HB 2327).
Warnick is the ranking minority member of the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee and also serves on the Ways and Means and Human Services committees.
Dent is the ranking minority member of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, with assignments on the Transportation and Early Learning and Human Services committees.
Ybarra is the ranking minority member of the House Postsecondary Education and Workforce Committee, and serving on the Environment and Energy and Labor and Workplace Standards committees.
Information is available at https://leg.wa.gov/bills-meetings-and-session/bills/ about bills, their sponsors, language, tracking, supplemental reports, how to comment, email notifications, and how bills become law.
Constituents with questions or comments can also call the legislative hotline at 1-800-562-6000 (TTY: 1-800-833-6388).
Committee hearings, floor activity, and other televised and video coverage of the legislature and state government agencies can be viewed at www.tvw.org.
And a list of state lawmakers is available at https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/ showing their committee assignments, bill sponsorship, and the districts and counties they represent.
