So much for compromise. After months of claiming he wouldn’t support massive tax hikes, Governor Bob Ferguson (D) just inked the largest tax increase in Washington state history with the signing of Senate Bill 5167 — the bloated $77.8 billion bi-annual budget — along with a stack of tax-hiking bills that read like a shopping list for big government.

Ferguson had the audacity to tell My Northwest in April, “We cannot adopt a budget with anywhere near the levels of taxes currently proposed by the House and Senate.” Fast forward to May, and he signed exactly that — plus interest. Apparently, when Democrats say “compromise,” they mean you compromise your wallet.

According to the Washington Policy Center, the state already ranks a dismal 45th in the nation for business tax climate — and this taxapalooza will only drive us closer to dead last. Among the budget’s lowlights:

• Gas tax hikes (SB 5161): 6 cents more per gallon of gas, 12 cents for diesel. Hope you didn’t like affordable groceries or shipping.
• Business & Occupation tax hikes (HB 2081): Businesses pay more on gross receipts — even if they lose money. Who needs profit when you can pay taxes on imaginary wealth?
• Sales tax expansion to services (SB 5814): Custom software, IT services, even advertising now get taxed. Washington’s new motto: If you can invoice it, we can tax it.
• Capital gains tax hike (SB 5813): From 7% to 9.9% for high-dollar asset sales, and estate tax rates spike to a whopping 35% for larger estates. So much for saving for the next generation.
• Repealing tax preferences (SB 5794): Storage units get hit with a 1.75% gross receipts tax, among other hits to consumers.

The budget represents a 6.5% jump from 2023-25, and adds a whopping $9.3 billion in new spending over four years — far outpacing inflation or population growth. But don’t worry, Ferguson says there were a few vetoes… he just didn’t say what they were. How reassuring.

As the Washington Policy Center notes, this spend-a-thon fails to prioritize taxpayer value, accountability, or innovation. It’s a progressive fever dream paid for by the very Washingtonians already struggling with affordability.

In short: Olympia Democrats got their wish list, and you got the bill. Read more at the Washington Policy Center.

Governor Bob Ferguson has officially signed off on House Bill 1296, which guts parental notification rights in schools and gives bureaucrats more say over your kid’s medical and mental health decisions than you. But don’t worry—during the bill’s glittery signing ceremony, they swore it was all about fighting discrimination. (Spoiler: it’s not.)

Thanks to this new law, backed by Rep. Monica Stonier (D-Vancouver) and enthusiastically hugged into law, schools no longer have to tell parents if their 13-year-old is making major health decisions or struggling with mental illness—as long as the kid values “privacy.” Because obviously the best way to help teens is to cut parents out of the loop entirely.

The Washington Policy Center rightly points out that HB 1296 rolls back core parts of Initiative 2081, a voter-approved measure that actually required schools to tell parents when serious issues were at play. But who needs transparency or family support when OSPI can hand students a shiny new rights handbook and threaten school funding for non-compliance?

Ferguson might’ve waited until the last minute to sign the bill, but let’s be real—he was always going to back a law that expands government control while sidelining parents. After all, nothing screams “student safety” like deliberately keeping families in the dark. Read more at the Washington Policy Center.

Sound Transit threw a party for a billion-dollar train to Redmond that carries fewer people per day than a Chick-fil-A drive-thru — meanwhile, they quietly announced that the long-delayed line across Lake Washington won’t arrive until maybe 2026, five years late and billions over budget. But hey, at least Dow Constantine got a photo op.

According to the Washington Policy Center, the $1.9 billion Eastside starter line is averaging just 3,000 daily riders — a full 40% below the already pathetic forecast of 5,000. And that’s after 15 years of planning and construction. Sound Transit’s spin? Just wait for the lake crossing to open — someday — and ridership might improve. Eventually. Maybe.

But let’s talk big picture. From 2017 to 2024, while the region added 400,000 people, total Sound Transit ridership actually fell from 45.8 million to 40.1 million. Even with all the money pumped into light rail extensions, the small increase in Link ridership couldn’t stop the bleeding elsewhere. Express buses and Sounder trains each lost over half their riders. For every person boarding a train, Metro lost six bus riders. That’s not transit growth — it’s rearranging deck chairs.

And it’s not just Sound Transit. Every major transit provider in the region saw declining ridership from 2017 to 2024, including Metro, Community Transit, and Pierce Transit. Even the new lines to Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace mostly poached riders from discontinued bus routes — it’s less “building demand” and more “cannibalizing your own service.”

Yet planners still cling to the delusion that Puget Sound will somehow hit 400 million transit rides per year by 2030. At this rate, we’ll be lucky to claw our way back to 2017 levels by then. The Washington Policy Center rightly suggests it’s time to stop fantasizing and face the fiscal reality: light rail expansion has become a multibillion-dollar vanity project with lousy ROI. Read more at the Washington Policy Center.

US Senate Republicans are pushing to overturn California’s gas-car ban, a policy so extreme that even General Motors has backed away from it. But here in Washington, Democrats are still clinging to the Golden State’s electric vehicle fantasy — even as the numbers crash back to earth.

The California-style mandate demands that 35% of new vehicles sold in Washington by 2026 be zero-emission. The problem? EV sales in California — the national leader — just dropped from 22% to 20.8%. Toyota calls the targets “impossible,” and automakers face $10,000-per-car fines if they fall short. Some are already pulling models from affected states.

But Washington Democrats, true to form, are following Newsom’s lead like it’s gospel. Forget the jobs, forget consumer choice, forget the reality check from the market — they’d rather keep pretending a Tesla in every driveway is just around the corner. Read more at Center Square.

Tacoma Public Schools is axing over 100 staff positions next year, all thanks to a $30 million budget hole — and Democrats would like you to believe it’s someone else’s fault.

District officials are blaming low enrollment and “insufficient state funding,” but let’s do some quick math: Tacoma already offers the highest teacher salaries in the state, with top earners making up to $146,000. They also cut $40 million last year and still managed to be $30 million in the red this year. At some point, maybe the problem isn’t just funding — it’s spending like there’s no tomorrow.

Now 105 provisional staff are out, 59 others are getting shuffled, and the district still hasn’t balanced the books. But hey, at least they’re “finding creative partnerships” to keep after-school programs going. That should make up for overcrowded classrooms and fewer support staff, right? Read more at Center Square.

Just to reinforce our earlier reports, Governor Bob Ferguson promised to find savings before raising taxes — then promptly signed a nearly $78 billion budget that jacks up taxes by more than $9 billion. So much for promises.

Despite “inheriting” what Ferguson claimed was a $16 billion shortfall (actual nonpartisan estimate: $7.5 billion), his “balanced” solution was to raise taxes on just about everything that moves — or doesn’t. That includes new B&O taxes, a Tesla tax, and even a hike in taxes for storage units. He also greenlit higher gas and diesel taxes, fee hikes on trucks and cars, and a broadened capital gains tax. Hope you weren’t planning on saving money this year.

He did manage to squeeze in $6 billion in “cuts” — by delaying healthcare, education, and behavioral health programs. Translation: taxpayers get gutted and services get worse.

Ferguson did veto a few bits of the budget… but not enough to avoid hammering families and small businesses. Republicans called out the hypocrisy, warning the average family could pay $2,000 more per year under Ferguson’s tax orgy.

Oh, and his big plan for helping businesses crushed by these hikes? “Conversations.” No details, just vibes.

Washingtonians were promised affordability. What they got was the largest tax increase in state history — from a guy who ran on not doing exactly this. Read more at Center Square.

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