Budget & Spending

Statewide Poll: Washingtonians Say Enough is Enough on Taxes, Homelessness, and Out-of-Touch Policies

Statewide Poll: Washingtonians Say Enough is Enough on Taxes, Homelessness, and Out-of-Touch Policies

A new statewide survey makes one thing crystal clear: Washingtonians feel like they’re being squeezed harder than ever by Olympia’s tax-and-spend machine, and they’re ready for change. Families across the state are struggling to keep up, and voters overwhelmingly believe government policies are holding them back instead of helping them get ahead. TAXES From the...

Wall Street Journal: Illegal School Strikes in Washington

Wall Street Journal: Illegal School Strikes in Washington

The Wall Street Journal editorial Board covered the strikes at Evergreen Public Schools and La Center, both in Clark County. Future 42 has covered this issue as well. From the WSJ: Rather than strike, the union members could have kept working for a year under the last contract’s terms, according to the district. Washington law...

Strikes in Evergreen and La Center Keep Schools Closed as State Lawmakers Make Strikes Easier

Strikes in Evergreen and La Center Keep Schools Closed as State Lawmakers Make Strikes Easier

For thousands of families in Clark County, the school year hasn’t even started. Students in Evergreen Public Schools (one of the largest districts in the state) are entering their second week without classes due to a strike by classified staff, while nearby La Center School District has also been shut down by a walkout. Instead...

Seattle Times: Sound Transit’s expansion plans balloon by up to $35 billion

Seattle Times: Sound Transit’s expansion plans balloon by up to $35 billion

Mike Lindblom with the Seattle Times covers the latest on Sound Transit cost overruns and delays. From the article: Sound Transit revealed Thursday that its long-term costs are expected to soar by 20% to 25% as the agency deals with runaway construction inflation and modernization projects to make train service more dependable. Dual scissor blades...

The Center Square Exposes Unsustainable Surge in Washington State Spending

The Center Square Exposes Unsustainable Surge in Washington State Spending

Washington is barreling toward a fiscal cliff—and legislative leaders are flooring the gas. That’s the stark reality uncovered in a new investigative report by The Center Square, which reveals an eye-popping 116% increase in state spending over the last decade—a rate that far outpaces both inflation and population growth. In 2013-15, the state operated on...

Ferguson Gives Florida Company the Ferry Contract Over Washington Boatbuilder —Thanks to the Costs of Our Lawmakers’ Anti-Business Policies

Ferguson Gives Florida Company the Ferry Contract Over Washington Boatbuilder —Thanks to the Costs of Our Lawmakers’ Anti-Business Policies

Washington’s ferry system is struggling. With chronic staffing shortages, aging vessels, and service disruptions now commonplace, state officials are under increasing pressure to deliver real solutions. But instead of investing in Washington workers and companies, Governor Bob Ferguson has awarded a $714.5 million contract for three new hybrid-electric ferries to a Florida-based shipbuilder. The contract...

Center Square WA: WA facility that treats drug-addicted newborns at risk of closure due to budget cuts

Center Square WA: WA facility that treats drug-addicted newborns at risk of closure due to budget cuts

The Center Square Washington covered funding cuts at the Pediatric Interim Care Center (PICC) in Kent, which forced them to stop accepting new patients after 35 years. From the story: Since 1990, PICC has taken care of newborns born to mothers with substance use disorders. Up until this year, about half of PICC’s funding came from the...

Rep. Travis Couture in Seattle Times: A victim of Gov. Ferguson’s veto: Kent center for babies exposed to drugs

Rep. Travis Couture in Seattle Times: A victim of Gov. Ferguson’s veto: Kent center for babies exposed to drugs

Rep. Travis Couture (R – LD35) writes in the Seattle Times about budget cuts at the Pediatric Interim Care Center in Kent: On Wednesday, I toured the Pediatric Interim Care Center in Kent. There was no media, no speeches — just a bipartisan group walking through a place that has dedicated 35 years to quietly...

Discovery Institute: Time for Washington to Take a Lesson from Mississippi

Discovery Institute: Time for Washington to Take a Lesson from Mississippi

Though one could point to many areas in which Mississippi has struggled in the past, the state is clearly now on a roll. Washingtonians would be wise to compare what they are doing versus what our state is doing. Here are just a few immediately identifiable differences in trends between the two states in two...

2025 Snohomish County State Legislative Scorecard

2025 Snohomish County State Legislative Scorecard

Future 42 is releasing a first-of-its-kind, comprehensive scorecard highlighting key votes taken by the 24 legislators representing areas of Snohomish County during the 2025 legislative session. This information is critical in order to ensure that county residents are informed on bills which were passed, how those bills will impact their lives, and who voted for/against...

2025 Washington State Legislative Scorecard

2025 Washington State Legislative Scorecard

Future 42 is releasing a first-of-its-kind, comprehensive scorecard highlighting key votes taken by the 146 legislators during the 2025 legislative session. This information is critical in order to ensure that Washingtonians are informed on bills which were passed, how those bills will impact their lives, and who voted for/against those bills.  The 2025 Washington State...

2025 Washington State Legislative Scorecard

2025 Washington State Legislative Scorecard

Future 42 is releasing a first-of-its-kind, comprehensive scorecard highlighting key votes taken by legislators during the 2025 legislative session. This information is critical in order to ensure that Washingtonians are informed on bills which were passed, how those bills will impact their lives, and who voted for/against those bills. Note: This is special edition of...

Ferguson Signs Democrats’ 2025 Legislative Wishlist Into Law: Higher Taxes, Fewer Rights, and What You Need to Know

Ferguson Signs Democrats’ 2025 Legislative Wishlist Into Law: Higher Taxes, Fewer Rights, and What You Need to Know

When Bob Ferguson campaigned for governor and throughout the recently-completed legislative session, he positioned himself as a moderate Democrat who would govern pragmatically, resisting the tax-and-spend impulses of his party’s left wing. Yet, just five months into his administration, Ferguson has abandoned that promise, signing into law a series of bills that mark the largest...

Washington Lawmakers End Session with Flurry of Controversial Bills Awaiting Governor’s Signature

Washington Lawmakers End Session with Flurry of Controversial Bills Awaiting Governor’s Signature

A slate of controversial bills passed during the final hours of Washington’s 2025 legislative session are now awaiting action from Governor Bob Ferguson. The bills—ranging from new gas taxes to changes in emergency powers—are prompting concern among taxpayers, small business owners, and government accountability advocates who say the legislation will raise costs, limit public input,...