Washington Democrats have spent years expanding state government, growing spending and cultivating powerful public-sector unions. Now Gov. Bob Ferguson is discovering what happens when the bill comes due.

Hundreds of state employees walked off the job for an hour Monday as the Washington Federation of State Employees demanded higher wages in its next contract. Union leaders have already drawn their line: no furloughs, no cuts and no “takeaways”—even as Ferguson heads toward a third consecutive legislative session dominated by a budget shortfall.

The numbers explain the problem. The last round of state employee contracts included 5% general wage increases and cost taxpayers roughly $1.7 billion. The state has already agreed to continue paying 85% of employee health insurance premiums, a deal expected to cost another $348.5 million next biennium.

Ferguson’s office responded by pointing to budget reductions and blaming Trump administration cuts. But blaming Washington, D.C., can’t erase years of Olympia Democrats dramatically expanding state spending and government.

Now Ferguson is caught between the fiscal mess his party helped create and public-sector unions accustomed to Democrats delivering what they demand. The alliance looked a lot easier when taxpayers were picking up the tab and the money appeared endless. Read more at the Washington State Standard.

Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Ben Shuldiner summed up the district’s financial condition in two words: “We’re broke.” That apparently hasn’t discouraged the Seattle Education Association from threatening a strike while demanding raises above inflation.

The district faces an $87 million deficit, has burned its rainy-day reserve down to $30 million from a recommended $135 million, and Shuldiner warned Seattle Public Schools could actually become insolvent next year. Enrollment has also fallen sharply in recent years.

Yet 91% of union members authorized a strike that could disrupt school for roughly 50,000 students beginning Wednesday. The district says it has offered 8.8% raises over three years, including state-funded inflation adjustments, while SEA wants another 1.5% to 3% on top of inflation.

If teachers walk out, there won’t even be replacement instruction. The district is instead scrambling to see whether nonprofits can at least provide children with food and activities.

It’s another predictable consequence of Seattle’s progressive governing model: spend freely, watch families leave, exhaust the reserves and then discover there isn’t enough money to satisfy the next round of demands. And, as usual, students and parents get stuck with the consequences. Read more at The Center Square.

The Seattle Times editorial board is urging voters to reject Initiative 001, the parental-rights measure aimed at restoring protections Washington Democrats stripped away with HB 1296. Let’s Go Washington says the paper’s case rests on misleading claims—and responded with a point-by-point rebuttal.

Among them, the Times portrayed access to mental-health records as the initiative’s driving issue. LGW Executive Director Darren Littell notes that mental health is just one of eight categories covered by I-001, which also addresses parental notification for medical care, law enforcement involvement, removal from campus, curriculum access, academic performance and sexual-content opt-outs.

LGW also disputes claims that the initiative would force counselors to hand parents transcripts of private conversations. Instead, Littell says it restores parents’ access to records created and maintained by public schools, with safeguards involving suspected abuse or neglect.

Perhaps most telling is how I-001 reached the ballot at all. More than 400,000 Washingtonians signed petitions, yet Democrat legislative leaders refused to give the measure even a single hearing.

Democrats already weakened parental-rights protections. Now one of the state’s most influential editorial boards is telling voters to keep it that way. Fortunately, on Nov. 3, parents—not Olympia politicians or the Seattle Times editorial board—get the final word. Read more at Seattle Red.

Democrat Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is trying to paint Republican challenger state Sen. John Braun as responsible for Olympia’s spending and tax problems. There’s just one inconvenient detail: Democrats were running the place.

Perez’s new attack ad blames Braun for a 48% budget increase over five years, despite Republicans losing control of the state Senate before that period. During those years, Democrats controlled the Legislature, Democrat governors signed the budgets, and Republicans routinely voted against them.

Perez also attacks Braun for supposedly authoring Washington’s largest property tax increase, referring to the bipartisan 2017 McCleary education-funding deal. Braun’s campaign counters that the reforms actually lowered rates for many property owners, including rural homeowners in Southwest Washington.

Then there’s Perez’s claim that Braun “pocketed” a 72% legislative pay raise. Washington legislators don’t set their own salaries; an independent citizens commission does. Braun’s campaign says he opposed the increases in writing and testified against them.

The attacks come as Perez faces a serious reelection fight. She and Braun finished just 263 votes apart in the August primary, and Inside Elections has moved WA-03 into its Toss-up category.

Perez has spent years cultivating her image as a moderate willing to buck her own party. But blaming a Republican for spending approved under Democratic control is a curious way to distract voters from who has actually been running Olympia. Read more at Seattle Red.

Sound Transit has finally approved fare gates at up to 14 Link stations. The bad news? The agency says it could take until 2029 or 2030 to install technology New York transit riders were using more than a century ago.

The delay would be funny if taxpayers weren’t paying for it. Only about 63% of Link riders currently pay fares, while Sound Transit estimates gates could generate as much as $82.7 million in additional net revenue annually and pay for themselves within two or three years. Meanwhile, the agency is staring down a staggering $34.5 billion ST3 funding shortfall.

Naturally, Sound Transit’s first priority is spending until the end of 2027 developing a “Fare Gate Pilot Evaluation Framework.” Apparently, determining whether a turnstile successfully prevents people from walking onto a train without paying requires roughly 16 months of government contemplation.

There’s some additional irony here. Sound Transit spent years backing away from traditional fare enforcement over equity concerns, including under former board chair Dow Constantine. Now Constantine is Sound Transit’s CEO and gets to oversee the agency’s expensive, painfully slow return to the revolutionary concept of making riders actually pay.

With Sound Transit’s history of delays and cost overruns, 2030 may prove optimistic. But rest assured: the frameworks will be thoroughly evaluated. Read more at Seattle Red.

Washington drivers are getting hammered at the pump again, with regular gas reaching $5.37 a gallon Tuesday—up nearly a dollar from $4.40 a year ago. Seattle drivers are paying about $5.57, while San Juan County has soared to $6.26. Diesel is even uglier at $6.52 statewide.

Yes, global instability is pushing fuel prices higher. But that doesn’t explain why Washington remains dramatically more expensive than most of America. The national average is $4.10, while neighboring Idaho sits at $4.60.

For that, drivers can thank Olympia.

Washington’s fuel tax is now 56.5 cents per gallon, and the Democrat-created Climate Commitment Act piles additional costs onto gasoline. Washington Policy Center analysts estimate the CCA adds another 40 to 60 cents per gallon at the pump.

Yet Gov. Bob Ferguson and other state Democrats have previously tried blaming President Trump for Washington’s painful prices. That excuse gets harder to swallow when Washingtonians are paying roughly $1.27 more per gallon than the national average under taxes and climate policies Olympia imposed itself.

While motorists in more than half the states recently saw prices decline, Washington drivers are watching theirs climb. Democrats wanted expensive carbon policies to change behavior. Washington families are simply getting the bill. Read more at The Center Square.

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