When combined with the impact of President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” HR 1, the no-revenue budget that Governor Bob Ferguson proposed today will hurt everyday people in Washington State. But austerity isn’t inevitable.
On the steps of the Washington State Legislative Building earlier this month, I announced my prime sponsorship of House Bill 2100. If passed into law during the next year’s legislative session, my bill would establish the “Well Washington Fund” to safeguard state housing, healthcare, and higher education, protecting services such as Medicaid, food stamps, and housing for people with disabilities, through a modest payroll tax on high-earning jobs at the top 1 percent of businesses in Washington.
The Washington State Federation of State Employees, SEIU 775NW, the Statewide Poverty Action Network, and many more unions and nonprofits support this bill because they know the state government has never been empowered to make more of a material difference in our lives than it is today.
The Crisis Caused by HR 1
HR 1 funds a massive tax break for major corporations by defunding the social safety net. Here’s what we’re up against:
The Washington State Office of Financial Management estimates that HR 1’s new citizenship requirements for food stamp access—combined with newly imposed state-level costs to administer these benefits to all people, regardless of naturalization status—will cost the state an extra $350 million a year. Without these benefits, 1 million people in Washington could go hungry.
In the next several years, the federal government will cap student loan access for 79,000 students, many of whom may rely more on the state’s college grant for funding. Our 34 community and technical colleges are already bracing for a loss of federal grants and tuition revenue. A fifth of the annual $1.5 billion slash to Washington’s Hospital Safety Net Program—a federal matching program for Medicaid services—will hit University of Washington’s medical facilities.
Citizenship requirements and re-enrollment stipulations will strip as many as 142,000 Washingtonians of their Affordable Care Act eligibility. Another 620,000 may lose their healthcare coverage because of new Medicaid work requirements. HR 1 will remove support for nonprofits that provide abortion access, and reduce coverage for family planning, doula, and postpartum services. Trump’s cuts to the Department of Housing and Urban Development budget will also create a $100 million annual funding gap to support housing for veteran, aging, and disabled Washingtonians.
Though the budget Governor Ferguson proposed today acknowledges funding reductions resulting from HR 1, it doesn’t do so sustainably: funding some housing and food stamp access via the state’s “Rainy Day” emergency fund is by definition a temporary stopgap that will end. What’s more, because it contains no new revenue, the Governor’s budget echoes HR 1 by making its own reductions to state nursing homes, to behavioral health programs, and to higher education. And though Governor Ferguson’s signal of support for an income tax on millionaires is admirable, the revenue isn’t reflected in his budget because – by his own admission – it can’t be captured until 2029.
HB 2100 would generate $2.5 to $3 billion a year to reinforce housing, healthcare, and higher education. Unlike other, important revenue options up for consideration next session, the Well Washington Fund could be implemented in 2026 and mitigate the worst of HR 1’s cuts to SNAP and Medicaid in 2027.
Funding Public Programs Benefits Everybody—Even Our Opposition
A no-revenue budget would be as harmful as it is unpopular.
If “Tax the Rich” were a political candidate, they would be very popular, transcending both region and party.
Per polling by the Washington State Revenue Alliance in 2024, 81 percent of Washingtonians support taxing major corporations. Support for taxes on major corporations isn’t much higher in my solidly progressive 43rd Legislative District (84 percent) than in moderate Gig Harbor’s 26th district (81 percent). Even the staunchly Republican 19th and the 35th districts support taxing extremely rich corporations at 80 percent.
While Republican State Representatives Jim Walsh and Travis Couture oppose the Well Washington Fund, those living in conservative districts are statistically more likely to rely on the food stamps and Medicaid services. Meanwhile, Chamber of Commerce spokespersons who claim HB 2100’s payroll tax would force corporations to move out of state must contend with an inconvenient fact: revenues from Seattle’s analogous “JumpStart” payroll tax have steadily increased each year since its passage in 2020: from $231 million in annual revenues in 2021, to $255 million in 2022, to $315 million in 2023, to $360 million last year. The presence of both more large corporate tax payers and high-earning employees would indicate that payroll taxes like the kind that fills the Well Washington Fund were good for Seattle’s business climate.
The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services estimates that for every $1.00 of federal food stamp monies devoted to Washington State, $1.50 in economic activity is generated, meaning S.N.A.P. benefits double as a corporate subsidy to our state’s business community.
We Can Win
If Democrats are complicit in the fiscal conservatism that defunds public services, the results will be devastating for everybody. Washingtonians can reject this dim version of society. We can pass HB 2100 to safeguard housing, healthcare, and higher education. We can win.
President Trump has handed Washington State an opportunity to further our own commitment to economic justice. Between the rock of HR 1 and the hard place of the Governor’s all-cuts budget, shared prosperity can grow in the Evergreen State.
The Well Washington Fund can water our economy at the grassroots.
Washington State Representative Shaun Scott represents the 43rd Legislative District in the State House; his district includes Capitol Hill, the University District, Wallingford, Montlake, Fremont, and South Lake Union.
