Seattle Times Op-Ed: Washington state budget – A spending problem?

Despite the largest tax increase in Washington’s history, we continue to hear from legislators that we are facing a budget shortfall. The question must be asked whether this shortfall is truly the result of insufficient tax revenue, or whether a reduction in spending should be part of the solution. In a poll published last year by the Seattle Metro Chamber, 76% of voters in Washington agreed that the state has more than enough money to address important priorities. 

In just a single decade, state spending has nearly doubled from $43.6 billion in 2016 to $85.3 billion in 2025, according to the state’s Fiscal Information webpage. So, while Washington state residents and businesses are subject to record levels of taxes, legislators are approving budgets which spend twice as much as they did a decade ago.

I would submit that if the average Washington family or small business doubled their annual spending, they would expect to see far greater results from that spending than what we currently see from our state government. And if that family or small business faced a budget shortfall, as one might anticipate after having doubled their annual spending, I am confident they would look first to reduce spending to more appropriate levels before viewing the situation as a revenue problem.