By Marie Sullivan, legconsultant@wastatepta.org
View our comprehensive bill tracker looking ahead to week 13 here.
Over the past few weeks, lawmakers have been focused on releasing their proposed House and Senate biennial budgets for operations, transportation and construction and narrowing down the number of bills under consideration that will make it to Governor Bob Ferguson’s desk for signature.
On March 31st, bipartisan capital budget proposals were released in the House and Senate, with public testimony held in the House Capital Budget and Senate Ways & Means committees on April 1st. For the most part, K-12 school construction programs were well funded, although the chambers funded most of the grant programs at different levels which will need to be negotiated in the final 2025-27 capital budget.
Both proposals maintained $563 million for the School Construction Assistance Program (SCAP) and included significant investments in Small District & Tribal Compact Schools Modernization Grants. The two budgets also included funding for replacing HVAC systems using Climate Commitment Act funding, and continued support for seismic safety, emergency and urgent repair programs, and other small capital grant programs.
The Senate Ways & Means Committee amended their proposal on April 3rd and unanimously voted it off the floor on Saturday, April 5th. The House Capital Budget was also amended in committee and then passed to the House Rules Committee.
ESSB 5167, the 2025-27 operating budget, will go to a conference committee based on the Senate vote last week refusing to concur with House changes. ESSB 5195 (capital, Senate) and SSB 1216 (capital, House) is typically decided in a more bipartisan manner and budget writers will begin to meet over the next few weeks to align their assumptions and budgets. Finally, the Senate transportation budget, ESSB 5161, was passed by the Senate on March 29th and amended on the House floor April 2nd, when their proposed transportation budget replaced the Senate’s version. The transportation bill will return to the Senate but, like the capital budgets, will be negotiated behind the scenes and a final deal will be revealed in the final days of session.
NOTE: It’s important to remember that once budget bills emerge from a conference committee that they are no longer eligible for amendment. In other words, legislators may only vote For or Against the bills. A conference committee consists of two members of the majority party from each chamber, and one member of the minority party from each chamber. Typically, these are the legislators who lead the fiscal committees as chair, vice chair, and ranking members.
For the most current budget bill proposals, go to the Washington State Fiscal Information page here and click on “Latest Budget Proposals.” At that location all the House and Senate budgets are available for review, including budget summaries, comparisons, and project charts when applicable.
Governor’s remarks mean Plan B, C or D for operating budget writers
Last week, Governor Bob Ferguson held a press conference announcing that he wouldn’t sign either of the proposed budgets if they arrived on his desk because they relied much too heavily on tax increases to balance their budgets and that both relied on a wealth tax, which he said was “novel, untested, and will face immediate challenges in court.” Ferguson didn’t rule out supporting some tax increases, and even went as far to say that he would support a small test of the wealth tax (up to $100 million in anticipated revenue) to see how the idea would fare in the courts.
Ferguson also warned that the Senate Democratic proposal depleted the budget stabilization account (i.e., the Rainy Day Fund), and that uncertainty with federal funding meant the Legislature needed to leave as much in the account as possible. Ferguson also said federal dollars represented about 28% of the state budget, and he preferred the House approach to preserving the account.
The Governor shared that he was pleased both operating budgets included the cuts he had recommended, representing about $4 billion in savings, that they incorporated most of the cuts proposed by former Governor Jay Inslee, and even offered their own “savings.” With the latter, Ferguson said he and his team were reviewing the additional legislative proposals for potential impacts.
While saying there were many good ideas in both the House and Senate two-year spending plans, Ferguson was clear that budget writers needed to move the discussions in a different direction on both of the issues mentioned above. This announcement sends House and Senate budget writers back to the drawing board or at least to alternative plans and means additional programs will be under scrutiny. It also means new appropriations will be limited.
Listen to Governor Ferguson’s 37-minute press conference here.
Ferguson’s signals five principles needed for a budget he will sign
Governor Ferguson said whatever budget proposal comes to his desk must:
- Protect the Rainy Day Fund (Budget Stabilization Account).
- Base spending on realistic revenue projections. That means not the 4.5% allowed by law and adopted in the past few biennial budgets, but what growth is realistic over the next four years.
- Minimize new investments. What this means is no new programs and a direction to minimize new investments.
- Include billions of dollars in efficiencies and savings that let Washington residents know lawmakers have scrubbed the budget carefully but preserved core services, like education and public safety.
- Offer only revenues that would not be overturned by the courts.
MSOC and Special Education cut back in House Appropriations
On Saturday, April 5th, the House Appropriations Committee amended both E2SSB 5263, special education, and ESSB 5192, MSOC (Materials, Supplies & Operating Costs), taking both back to the levels passed out of the House committee in early March.
• E2SSB 5263, the bipartisan bill that passed the Senate unanimously, was replaced by the language of SHB 1357, with a projected fiscal impact of $153.1 million in 2025-27 and $180.3 million in 2027-29. As amended, the bill would retain the cap on enrollment, leave the threshold to reach the safety net unchanged, and make minimal adjustments to the two-tiered multiplier. This is a significant departure from the fiscal note of the bill as it passed the Senate, which projected new funding of $914.5 million in 2025-27 and $1.07 billion in 2027-29.
• ESSB 5192’s fiscal impact had been further reduced in the Senate from original bill levels, but still represented about $125 per student for school year 2025-26 for all students. The bill as amended last Saturday in committee would reduce the per student amount to $45.99 for all students and represents less than $50 million in the 2025-27 fiscal year – a far cry from HB 1338, the House bill co-signed by 29 Democrats, many of whom serve on the House Appropriations Committee. For comparison purposes, the original bill proposed $693.4 million in the 2025-27 biennium.
For a comparison of the MSOC per student rates, as passed by the Senate and the House Appropriations Committee, please click here.
House budget leaders shared that they wanted to keep the bills moving ahead of the April 8th deadline and couldn’t pass bills that weren’t represented in their 2025-27 operating budget. The challenge is that school districts are preparing 2025-26 school year budgets now; without more funding than the House is proposing, districts will face even more serious shortfalls or even binding conditions. To prevent binding conditions, school districts that can’t tap levies or reserves will begin sending out layoff notices, propose closing neighborhood schools, increase class sizes, and eliminate enrichment activities that support student activities and athletics.
If you haven’t already sent an Action Alert to your legislators, please do so. And if you have already acted, please call your state representatives and tell them what ideas are being floated in your school districts to bridge the gaps in rising costs, potential loss of federal funding, and lack of sufficient state dollars. Find the current Action Alert here. To find the names and phone numbers to contact your legislators, click here and type in your street address.
Countdown to April 27th
With three weeks left in the regular session, and several major deadlines for bill consideration behind us, lawmakers will spend Monday and Tuesday in fiscal committees and then turn their attention to floor action.
House bills that were changed in the Senate will have to return to the Senate for either concurrence (agreement with the changes), dispute (not agreeing with the changes) or a request for a conference committee and vice versa for House bills. House or Senate bills that were not changed can be sent to Governor Ferguson, and he has held two bill signings already this session.
Advocacy in Action
- On Thursday, April 3rd, Washington State PTA Advocacy Committee member Natalya Yudkovsky testified in the House Appropriations Committee against HB 2050, a bill that would decrease apportionment payments in February, March and April, and increase the apportionment payment in August. The House proposal would propose this for both the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school years. Natalya urged the legislators not to use budget gimmicks and create cash flow issues for school districts to resolve the state budget problem. Listen to Natalya here.
- Dr. Gwen Loosmore, an active member of the Washington State PTA Advocacy Committee, testified Friday, April 4 in the House Appropriations Committee in support of E2SSB 5098. The bill would restrict firearms in certain sensitive locations such as parks and at county fairs. Gwen’s testimony can be heard here.
The Week Ahead – Schedule Subject to Change
Finance (House) – HHR A and Virtual JLOB – 4/7 @ 10:00am
- HB 2038 – Public Hearing – Establishing the youth behavioral health account and funding the account through the imposition of a business and occupation additional tax on the operation of social media platforms. (Remote Testimony Available).
- HB 2068 – Public Hearing – Regulating tobacco and nicotine products. (Remote Testimony Available).
Appropriations (House) – HHR A and Virtual JLOB – 4/7 @ 1:30pm
- E2SSB 5098 – Exec Session – Restricting the possession of weapons on the premises of state or local public buildings, parks or playground facilities where children are likely to be present, and county fairs and county fair facilities. (Support/High)
- SSB 5123 – Exec Session – Expanding protections for certain students to promote inclusivity in public schools. (Support)
Ways & Means (Senate) – SHR 4 and Virtual JACB – 4/7 @ 1:30pm
- 2SHB 1497 – Exec Session – Improving outcomes associated with waste material management systems.
- E2SHB 1163 – Exec Session – Enhancing requirements relating to the purchase, transfer, and possession of firearms. (Support)
- 2SHB 1503 – Exec Session – Furthering digital equity and opportunity in Washington state. (Support/Low)
- 2SHB 1273 – Exec Session – Improving student access to dual credit programs.
- 2SHB 1587 – Exec Session – Encouraging local government Partner Promise scholarship programs within the opportunity scholarship program. (Support)
- ESHB 1296 – Exec Session – Promoting a safe and supportive public education system. (Concerns/Medium)
- ESHB 1651 – Exec Session – Concerning teacher residency and apprenticeship programs.
Appropriations (House) – HHR A and Virtual JLOB – 4/8 @ 1:30pm
- HB 2044 – Exec Session – Addressing unexcused student absences.
- ESSB 5752 – Exec Session – Modifying childcare and early childhood development programs.
Ways & Means (Senate) – SHR 4 and Virtual JACB – 4/8 @ 1:30pm
- HB 1796 – Exec Session – Concerning school districts’ authority to contract indebtedness for school construction.