Washington’s operating budget has ballooned 230% since 2001, according to a presentation to the Joint Legislative-Executive Committee on Budget Transparency and Fiscal Sustainability.

Lawmakers are still grappling with projected deficits despite historic tax increases. The state went from a $24.5 billion operating budget in the 2001-03 biennium to $80.7 billion today. Even adjusted for inflation, spending per capita has jumped 21-41% since 2002.

Much of the explosion came from basic education (post-McCleary) and social services. Yet the state still faces massive shortfalls, with the Office of Financial Management warning agencies to prepare for significant cuts in the next biennium.

This is the predictable result of decades of one-party Democrat control: massive spending increases, new programs, court mandates, and endless “investments” — followed by shock that revenue can’t keep up. Instead of restraint, Olympia’s answer is always more taxes.

Washington taxpayers are funding a government that grows faster than the economy and population combined, then wonders why the budget is perpetually underwater. Another day, another reminder that progressive spending addiction has no off switch. Read more at Center Square.

In a new piece, Seattle Red’s Jason Rantz explains the biggest challenge facing Initiative 645 (repealing Washington’s new income tax) isn’t Governor Bob Ferguson, the unions bankrolling him, or even a hostile ballot title.

It’s the conservative who signed the petition, complains about Olympia daily, and then refuses to turn in a ballot because “the system is rigged.”

Let’s Go Washington gathered over a million signatures. These were motivated people angry enough to act. Then most of them vanished when it was time to actually vote. As Brian Heywood told The Jason Rantz Show, in 2025 they had over a million signers but only about 330,000 voted.

The Judge Dave Larson Supreme Court race should have been a wake-up call. Larson lost by 20,000 votes, but there were 635,000 undervotes — people who held a ballot, voted on other races, and skipped the one that mattered. He only needed 21,000 more informed voters.

Rantz is correct: the “rigged election” excuse is the ultimate gift to Democrats. If you genuinely believe they’ll cheat, why concede the field before they have to? Not voting is the single most helpful thing you can do for the people you claim are stealing elections.

A Cygnal poll shows voters oppose the income tax 67% to 21%. The public is with us. But polls don’t repeal taxes — ballots do. And the No side will have a union war chest and Ferguson barnstorming the state.

You signed the petition. Now finish the job. An unreturned ballot isn’t a principled protest. It’s a donation to Bob Ferguson and the tax-and-spend machine. Read Rantz’s full piece at Seattle Red.

Washington’s payouts for government misconduct hit a record $537 million last year — up from $500 million the year before and five times higher than in 2021.

The bulk of the tab, roughly $388 million, came from the Department of Children, Youth and Families — the same agency Democrats have overseen for years while children suffered in abusive homes and the system racked up massive liability.

Legal fees are exploding too: over $76 million on lawyers and outside firms. The state’s self-insurance fund was $1.7 billion in the red, forcing officials to authorize temporary cash deficiencies and dump another $1 billion from the legislature into it as a bandage.

Instead of real accountability or reform, Olympia’s response is the usual: form a new committee (costing $50,000) to study the problem and deliver recommendations in November. Ideas like arbitration for civil cases against government were watered down or blocked by trial lawyers who profit from the chaos.

This is the predictable result of decades of one-party Democratic rule: expand government, mismanage core functions like child welfare, then make taxpayers foot the bill for the lawsuits when it all collapses. No consequences for the bureaucrats or politicians responsible — just bigger payouts and more excuses.

Washington families are paying hundreds of millions for government failure. It’s long past time for real reform instead of more studies and temporary cash infusions. Read more at the Washington State Standard.

According to Bob Pishue, transportation policy fellow for the Mountain States Policy Center, new research confirms what Washington drivers already know in their wallets: gas prices are significantly higher in Democrat-controlled states, and West Coast climate policies are a major culprit.

Between 2021 and 2026, gas prices rose $0.62 per gallon in red states versus $0.86 in blue states. Strip out California, Hawaii, Washington, and Oregon, and the gap shrinks dramatically to just $0.09. The “West Coast premium” exploded thanks to policies like Washington’s Climate Commitment Act and Low Carbon Fuel Standard, which add $0.41 to $0.48 per gallon.

Pishue notes that before 2022, refining regulations played a role, but the rapid increase since then is driven by these green mandates. California and Oregon have similar programs with similar results. Yet Washington’s Department of Ecology still claims they “haven’t seen a clear relationship” between their carbon tax and gas prices — the same office that sold the CCA as costing drivers “only pennies.”

This is classic progressive governance: impose costly climate policies that drive up energy prices, then act shocked when working families feel the pain. Higher gas costs hit the poorest hardest and raise prices for everything else.

The fix is simple. Lawmakers could repeal or suspend these mandates. But in blue Washington, ideology always comes before affordability. Unfortunately for everyone else, Democrat climate virtue-signaling comes with a very real price tag at the pump. Read more at Center Square.