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Dear Neighbor,
I hope you are having a great week. The 2026 legislative session is moving incredibly fast, and I want to welcome you to the final stretch. As Senate bills move to the House floor for debate over the last two weeks, the Legislature is also deep into budget season. I want to give you a quick update on where things stand with the three supplemental budgets and how they will directly impact you and your family.
The real cost of the operating budget
If you only have a few minutes today, please click the photo below or here. The budget is being debated on Saturday. It assumes an income tax, relies on funds raided from the LEOFF Pension Fund, and proposes more reckless spending above and beyond the 2025 budget, which included the largest tax increase in state history.
I recorded a quick update from the Capitol to break down what the majority party’s proposed operating budget means for your family’s bottom line.
Read more details about the operating budget below.
A bipartisan approach to the transportation and capital budgets
The supplemental transportation budget (House Bill 2306) pays for mobility infrastructure. This includes paving roads, maintaining bridges, funding the Washington State Patrol, and supporting local transit agencies. The House proposed supplemental transportation budget spends a total of $16.5 billion to support our statewide mobility network.
For our communities in Southwest Washington, a reliable transportation system is absolutely essential. I am proud to report that this proposal includes investments for the 20th District. The plan includes $25.6 million for the I-5 and 179th Street interchange, $14.1 million for the North Lewis County Industrial Access, $3.2 million for the Chamber Way and BNSF replacement planning, and $2.3 million for the I-5 and Chamber Way interchange vicinity improvements.
Similarly, the House proposed a bipartisan $910.6 million supplemental capital budget (House Bill 2295) to pay for “brick and mortar” infrastructure projects across Washington. As the assistant ranking member on the House Capital Budget Committee, I am incredibly proud of the significant funding for local projects right here at home. The proposal includes more than $6 million for Green Mountain School District construction, $1.552 million for Lewis County public health building upgrades, $772,000 for the Yacolt Community Center, and $150,000 for a detox and inpatient substance use disorder building in Chehalis operated by Cascade Community Healthcare.
You can read more projects in this press release: Reps. Peter Abbarno and Ed Orcutt announce more than $16.4 million in House-proposed supplemental capital budget for the 20th District
The disappointing operating budget
Unfortunately, the spirit of collaboration seen in the capital and transportation budgets did not carry over into the supplemental operating budget (House Bill 2289). The proposal put forward by House Democrats is a highly partisan spending plan that is completely out of touch with the financial realities facing families in the 20th District.
Rather than tightening the belt during a deficit like any responsible household would, the proposed budget expands state government by another $2 billion. To pay for this spending spree, the proposal wipes out $880 million from the Budget Stabilization Account, commonly known as the Rainy Day fund, leaving Washington state with one of the lowest reserves in the nation. It also relies on a $4 billion grab from the retirement security of Washington police and firefighters to fix a state budget gap. This scheme treats the hard-earned pensions of our dedicated first responders as a slush fund for unrelated state projects. Ultimately, this proposal relies on accounting tricks instead of structural reform, leaving us dangerously unprepared for future economic downturns or other fiscal emergencies.
The proposal also paves the way for nearly $2 billion in new taxes over the next four years. After absorbing the largest tax increase in state history in 2025, the last thing local communities need is another financial burden. I am especially alarmed by the continued push to rely on a new, unconstitutional state income tax. Proponents might label it a tax on the wealthy today. Still, history shows that once the government opens the door to an income tax, it inevitably expands to target the middle class and everyone.
I look at the numbers every day, and the statistics paint a bleak picture of the state’s affordability crisis. A new report from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis ranks Washington as the fifth most expensive state in the nation.
Other statistics show that Washington currently ranks fourth in the nation for the highest cost of living, with prices sitting 8.6% above the national average. Yet, this budget does nothing to reverse that trend. When you go to the store, you face the fourth-highest grocery prices in the country, and their answer is to add a bottle tax and higher bag fees. Washington has the fourth-most expensive housing market, and they want to hike the real estate excise tax even higher. Even child care, where the state is the seventh-most expensive in the nation, will become harder to access because the proposal lowers reimbursement rates for providers.
This proposal is especially harsh on rural Washington. It slashes local effort assistance for K-12 schools, disproportionately hurting smaller districts. It also cuts more than $1 billion from Medicaid over the biennium. This move will devastate critical access hospitals in Southwest Washington, which are already struggling to keep their doors open.
The state does not have a revenue problem. State government is bringing in more money than ever before. Majority Democrats have a severe spending problem. We cannot fix budget problems by spending more.
Again, the operating budget will be debated on the House floor this Saturday, and I will be voting NO. I will keep fighting for your financial security and pushing back against policies that make life harder for working families.
Fighting for affordability on the House floor
Recently, during our long days on the House floor debating legislation before House of Origin cutoff, you might have noticed a common theme in my speeches: affordability. The people in our community do not want to be taxed and regulated into poverty. I spoke on House Bill 1903, which fails to recognize the irony that the majority party is making Washington so unaffordable that it creates “relief programs” that take money from one person and give it to another.
What I am hearing from our community is that we have over-taxed and over-regulated, and seniors and working families just want their energy, grocery, child care, and gas prices to go down. You can watch my floor speech on HB 1903 here.
I also voiced my strong opposition to House Bill 2034, which clearly shows we are facing a priorities crisis in Olympia. The majority party should not raid pension funds and focus on funding the essential services people rely on, rather than creating massive new programs. You can watch my speech on HB 2034 here or by clicking on the photo below.
And on House Bill 2539, I stood up to point out that the Democrat majority is once again choosing criminal rights over victim needs. We must restore balance and prioritize the safety of our neighborhoods. You can watch my speech on HB 2539 here or by clicking on the photo below.
Stay connected
As we head into the final stretch of the 2026 legislative session, your involvement and engagement in the legislative process are still just as important as ever. I hope the links below are helpful.
- Visit my website | Representative Peter Abbarno
- Visit the Washington State House Republicans website
- Visit our Stop Bad Bills page
- Visit the 2026 Initiatives to the Legislature page
- Learn what’s happening with legislation week to week by subscribing to The Week Ahead
- Watch all legislative action on TVW
- Follow Washington State House Republicans on Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, YouTube, and SoundCloud.
Thank you for staying engaged and informed. Serving as your representative and helping lead our House Republican team is an honor I take seriously. As always, please reach out to my office if you have questions or want to share your thoughts.
Together, we will continue to fight for affordability in Olympia.
Sincerely,
Peter Abbarno
