$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 of 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
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- Washington once had a voter-approved spending limit – which was repeatedly suspended and ultimately repealed.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.
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
Apply common sense to childcare subsidy
- The formula for subsidizing child care has the state paying providers more than private-pay families are charged
- Senate Bill 5310 takes a “pay the lesser of…” approach that will $ave Washington taxpayers and promote equitable access to childcare services regardless of payment source
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
Ask for ideas to make government work better
- State employees and people who interact with government often can point out where agencies are being wasteful, inefficient, or worse
- Senate Bill 5146 would establish a “government efficiency portal” that offers a direct pipeline to legislative budget writers
- Suggestions may be anonymous, and ideas that result in savings may be eligible for financial awards
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
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.
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.
$ave Washington is about more than saving tax dollars – it’s also about improving outcomes to ensure tax dollars are spent efficiently.
Address chronic absenteeism in our schools
- K-12 dollars are effectively lost when students are chronically absent… and it’s not good for students either
- Students who miss even 2 days per month are more likely to read at lower than their grade level and to not graduate on time
- Senate Bill 5007 would create a pilot program at the Educational Service District level to identify and provide supports to students who are or are at risk of being chronically absent
More accountability for those on public assistance
- People receiving food and cash assistance from the state are supposed to be actively seeking employment or working to improve their employability
- The percentage of those complying has fallen to 46%, from 76% in 2019
- Senate Bill 5311 would create an incentive to honor WorkFirst program requirements by allowing for the permanent disqualification of those who repeatedly fail to comply
Create campus for building health-care workforce
- Our state needs many more health-care workers to be ready for the approaching “silver tsunami” of Washingtonians whose medical needs are increasing as they age
- The Evergreen State College is not providing enough return on the taxpayers’ investment; its 2024 enrollment of 2,386 is half what it was just 10 years ago and lower than the combined enrollment at Olympia’s two traditional high schools
- Senate Bill 5424 would retire TESC and turn its Olympia campus over to the University of Washington, for conversion to a dedicated health-sciences campus
JR to 25’ is unsafe and expensive
- Mixing adults and youth in juvenile-rehabilitation facilities is a failed experiment
- Hybrid approach costs more, leads to safety issues that hinder youth-rehab efforts
- Senate Bill 5278 addresses overcrowding concerns; other reforms proposed in SB 5153, SB 5260, SB 5277
I talk a lot about what happens at the Green Hill School, the juvenile justice facility in Chehalis, because it has been riddled with serious overcrowding and poor management protocols — two things that have made it a dangerous and unproductive rehabilitation environment.
AUDIO
The Evergreen State College in Olympia would be abolished and replaced with a new health-care training school under new legislation proposed by the State Senate Republican Leader. Tracy Ellis reports.
SRC On Air: Sen. John Braun on The Lars Larson Show
Senate Republican Leader John Braun talks to Lars Larson about his effort to fix Washington’s broken juvenile-justice system. Braun’s legislation addresses safety and operational concerns at state-run juvenile-rehabilitation facilities.