$ave Washington

Our state’s families and employers are already paying too much in taxes. They need legislators to find ways to end wasteful spending, deliver services at less cost and… $ave Washington!

Agency mistakes are costing taxpayers hundreds of millions

  • One of the fastest-growing costs to state government is for “tort liability” – meaning payouts to people who have been harmed somehow by a state agency
  • State government has paid out more than $500 million in the past two years alone due to claims and judgments, and the 2025 fiscal year is on pace to be even more expensive
  • Nearly 200 claims totaling $1 million or more apiece have been paid in the past four years alone, and 3/4 of those are associated with the state Department of Children, Youth and Families
  • Senate Bill 5144 would increase legislative oversight the executive branch… the fewer payouts, the more we can $ave Washington!

When programs don’t perform, let them fade into the sunset

  • The performance of preferential tax rates – set primarily to encourage job creation – is regularly reviewed to see whether they should be considered for an extension or allowed to fade away… (or “sunset”)
  • We can $ave Washington by putting spending programs through the same kind of performance evaluation used to decide the future of tax preferences
  • Senate Bill 5145 would put expiration dates on programs established as of 2026 that spend at least $1 million in their first two years of full implementation
  • Ahead of a program’s expiration date, the Legislature’s special audit/review committee will recommend whether it should be continued, modified or allowed to fade into the sunset

 

Stop paying Medicaid premiums for people who live outside Washington

  • A recent state audit found Washington is unnecessarily continuing to pay Medicaid premiums for people who have left the state and are enrolled in Medicaid elsewhere
  • In one year alone nearly $135 million was lost to these double payments for people who were enrolled in Medicaid here and another state at the same time
  • Senate Bill 5258 would $ave Washington by allowing for the recovery of premiums paid to managed care organizations for Medicaid enrollees who no longer live in our state

Create a state spending limit, with excess revenues going toward property tax relief

  • Washington once had a voter-approved spending limit – which was repeatedly suspended and ultimately repealed.
  • Senate Bill 5151 would establish a new limit on state spending, tied to the long-term annual average of median worker wage growth in the state – which is at present around 4%.
  • Revenue collected above the limit would go toward property-tax relief, by reducing the next year’s state property-tax rate.

Increase affordable child-care options by reducing barriers for providers

  • Washington is unfriendly to childcare providers, regulating them more heavily than 37 other states
  • The burden of complying with staffing requirements, regulations that aren’t health- or safety-related, and more has depressed the availability of care, driving up costs
  • Senate Bill 5416 would get rid of costly, unnecessary mandates and encourage growth in the supply of childcare providers

Don’t certify pay raises that would force tax hikes

  • Prohibit Washington’s governor from setting the stage for tax increases by agreeing to collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) that are not financially feasible
  • Don’t certify CBAs as financially feasible if they would require a withdrawal from state government’s “rainy day fund”
  • Senate Bill 5415 would $ave Washington by keeping the cost of state-worker compensation within available revenues
More $ave Washington Bills

Increasing affordable child care options by reducing barriers for providers

Reform child care subsidy rates to not exceed what private pay clients pay

K-12: Address chronically absent students

Restoring integrity of welfare work requirements

Convert Evergreen State College to Health Sciences Campus

The Legislature a few years back basically put a number of bills on layaway, they said we want to pass these bills, we’re not ready to pay for it yet, but we’ll just pay for it in the future, and now it’s time to pay the bills, and there’s not sufficient money to cover it.

Sen. Chris Gildon

VIDEO

An in-depth conversation on the state budget with the lead budget writers in the Senate: The Ways and Means Chair and the ranking Republican on that committee, Chris Gildon.