The Budget & Policy Center entered the 60-day legislative session with a robust vision for lawmakers to improve economic security, promote trust and dignity, and demonstrate government accountability. We advocated for a budget that provides ample funding for priorities like schools, infrastructure, housing, food access, and health care and urged the legislature to advance tax reform that moves toward racial, gender, and economic justice.

As we reflect on the progress we made on our legislative priorities, it is measured not just by wins or losses, but also by the momentum built toward new, bold ideas and the strengthening of our relationships with key partners. We have a lot to be proud of and are happy to share some of what we accomplished:

• We helped build a coalition-driven movement that secured a $10 million investment in community-based outreach related to the implementation of the Working Families Tax Credit. This funding will ensure that the historic new credit reaches the more than 400,000 Washingtonians who are eligible for it in 2023 by providing information and services in a wide range of languages in communities across Washington.
• Lawmakers prioritized investments in housing, education, and other public services and rejected short-sighted, broad based tax cuts (read our take on the final budget) that would have unnecessarily benefited the wealthy at the expense of funding community priorities like schools, parks, and healthcare.
• The version of the fines and fees reform bill that passed increases some important access to legal financial obligation (LFO) relief, but legislators did not advance a new fund for victim restitution and key components of reforms to the LFO system that community advocates and impacted people called for.

Unfortunately, lawmakers also left some important policies unfunded:

• The guaranteed basic income (GBI) bill didn’t receive a hearing and the funding for GBI pilot programs was not included in the final budget even though community members have made it clear that this kind of direct cash assistance is necessary and effective in improving economic security.
• The bills to create the Washington Future Fund, a baby savings bond program, didn’t pass out of the fiscal committees in either chamber. The final budget does include funding for a wealth inequities study, which was part of the bill. But it still doesn’t serve the main purpose of the bill to meaningfully invest money in babies born into families that use Medicaid.

We recognize that lawmakers had a constrained timeline to address monumental challenges this session. But we’re concerned about the ways in which they made certain choices – often behind closed doors and with limited or no time for public input. For example, holding public hearings on the budget bills just hours after releasing draft proposals and failing to center the experiences of those most impacted does not live up to our commitment of ensuring accountable and transparent government. That, and the departure of a number Black and other legislators of color early in their careers and the reinvigorated organizing for better working conditions by legislative staff leave us with some deeper reckonings about the legislature as an institution.

We must face some of these big questions:

• How is the structure of the legislature designed to keep certain people in power and to push out others?
  
• Who is centered in policymaking?
• How can we all best hold lawmakers accountable to the communities they serve?
• Who gets to decide the pace of change?

As we confront these questions, we know there is a lot more to be done for economic justice in Washington state. You can count on our team to be in it for the long haul. Our key priorities in the short term are collaborating with a statewide coalition to ensure equitable implementation of the Working Families Tax Credit and working with partners to preserve $500 million in annual revenue brought in by the capital gains tax by protecting it against a handful of ultra-wealthy opponents who are trying to repeal it in court and at ballot.

We will also continue to build momentum for increasing the economic security the people and families who most need it through programs like baby bonds, a guaranteed basic income, and unemployment insurance for undocumented workers. And we are committed to supporting the effort of community advocates and formerly incarcerated people to dismantle the racist and inequitable system of fines and fees in Washington state.

We’re grateful to the advocates, partners, and donors who support us in myriad ways.

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