Statement from Budget & Policy Center
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, advocates from across Washington state have fought hard to enact new funding to support schools, health care, infrastructure, and other priorities in their communities. Governor Inslee commendably proposes to sustain much of those recent advancements in his budget proposals for the upcoming 2023-25 budget cycle. Notably, the $4 billion in additional funding he proposes for affordable housing (via a public referendum vote) is long overdue, and lawmakers should approve this proposal when they convene in Olympia early next year. Lawmakers should also incorporate, and expand upon, his proposed increases in funding for efforts to fight climate change and promote clean energy, improve behavioral health care, and strengthen child care and early learning.
While Governor Inslee proposes critical investments in community priorities, he disappointingly fails to offer further actions to rebalance Washington’s notoriously upside-down tax code. The new excise tax on annual capital gains above $250,000 and the Working Families Tax Credit – both approved by lawmakers in early 2021 – represent important steps in the right direction, but there is still a long way to go. Had the Governor included new equitable sources of revenue in his budget proposal, he wouldn’t need to rely on tapping budget reserves and other less-than-ideal, one-time actions to maintain current funding levels.
Going forward, lawmakers should implement a guaranteed basic income (GBI) pilot program and fund the many other community needs Inslee omitted from his budget proposal. They can do so by enacting a new millionaire wealth tax, raising taxes on multi-million-dollar estates, and taking other actions to ensure the wealthiest Washingtonians pay what they owe to support the common good.
We will continue to analyze the proposal and confer with community partners in the coming weeks. Our initial take is that Governor Inslee proposes a solid budget framework that lawmakers should build upon in the coming months to ensure public foundations like schools, hospitals, and infrastructure can more amply support the well-being of all communities across Washington state.
Stay tuned to schmudget for a full analysis of the Governor’s 2023-25 operating budget proposal and our upcoming legislative agenda.
