(The Center Square) – Washington Governor Bob Ferguson recently said he will not propose new taxes to close a projected multi-billion-dollar budget shortfall for the upcoming 2027-29 biennium, but that hasn’t quelled all concerns about a potential increase.
Critics are pointing out the specific language used by Ferguson raises the possibility that while the governor may not himself introduce new taxes, he has not stated he won’t sign bills that raise taxes.
As reported by The Center Square, on June 5, Office of Financial Management Director KD Chapman-See sent every state agency a letter telling them to brace for what she called “the most challenging budget any of us has yet faced in these roles.”
Ferguson followed to say he expects to release his own budget proposal in December.
“I want to be clear that we do not yet know precisely how significant the shortfalls will be,” wrote OFM Director Chapman-See on June 5.
She blamed inflation, federal cuts and population growth for much of the anticipated shortfall.
During a recent interview with local media, Ferguson quickly addressed the direct question before moving on.
“I won’t be proposing new taxes,” he said.
Senator Chris Gildon, R-Puyallup, lead budget writer for Senate Republicans, isn’t buying the explanations for the budget reality.
“We have been screaming this from the rooftops all year long,” he said. “We said the budget they proposed was a house of cards built on a shaky foundation. It was structurally unsound.”
“And the reason that I said that is it spent $5 billion more than we were expecting to even receive. They used a lot of one-time dollars to pay for ongoing items just like they’ve been doing in years past,” said Gildon.
Gildon said federal cuts and the ongoing war in Iran are putting financial pressure on Washingtonians, but said that is not the reason the state budget is facing another massive shortfall.
“Every time that something goes wrong, they want to point fingers and blame the national government,” he said. “Whether it’s tariffs, the war in Iran, inflation, where certainly those things have effects, right? I am not going to deny that at all. However, the things that we do within our own borders also have an effect.”
Washington agencies are being asked to scrutinize any programs that were created or expanded after January 1, 2019. They’re also being directed to prepare spending reduction proposals and are largely discouraged from seeking to expand programs or start new ones.
Ferguson has committed to handling the shortfall through structural efficiencies and cuts, stating that he will not pursue new taxes to balance the budget, but as Washington Policy Center’s Paul Guppy noted in a June 12 podcast, Ferguson may be leaving himself some wiggle room there.
“He says he won’t propose new taxes next year and I believe that,” said Guppy. “Instead Democratic leadership will propose new taxes, pass them in the legislature and then send them to the governor to sign. And I would bet…he will sign it.”
Gildon told The Center Square that out of control spending is to blame for the state’s woes, but majority Democrats who control the budget won’t acknowledge that.
“Heaven forbid they would ever take responsibility for their own actions, even though we have been telling them exactly what is going to happen. And it looks like everything that we’ve said is coming true right now.”
The Center Square reached out to Ferguson’s office to ask about the “no new taxes” statement he made after the latest OFM projections, inquiring directly if Ferguson will agree not to sign any bills with tax increases.
The Center Square received no reply before publication.