[AUDIO] Historic tax and spending measures highlighted Washington’s 2026 legislative session. Tracy Ellis with Senate Republicans reports.
Transcript:
Majority Democrats passed an income tax. Governor Bob Ferguson says he will sign Senate Republican Leader John Branch, as Democrats are damaging the once thriving state economy. It’s not happening anymore, whether it’s Microsoft or Amazon or Starbucks or Costco, the list goes on and on. Those things aren’t going to be in our future. Their own policies are going to suffer in the end because they’ve decided they know best.
Democrats approved an $80 billion operating budget, the largest in state history, and Senate Republican budget lead Chris Gilden says future deficits are likely. The budget literally spend $5 billion more than we expect to come in in revenue, even with the income tax and all of that, it spent $5 billion more than our state economists says we are going to actually have.
Democrats also targeted law enforcement, banning officers from wearing face masks and creating a governor appointed board to decertify sheriffs in Olympia. I’m Tracy Ellis.