Each week on The Newsfeed, host Paris Jackson and a team of veteran journalists dive deep into one topic and provide impactful reporting, interviews and community insights from sources you can trust. Each day this week, this post will be updated with a new story from the team.
How the state supplemental budget debate works
By Venice Buhain
In this year’s short legislative session, lawmakers are dealing with a budget shortfall in the supplemental budget. Here are a few things you need to know about the budget process.
How does the budget work?
Washington operates on a biennium, and in last year’s legislative session, lawmakers passed a $77.8 billion 2025-2027 budget, which included cuts to state programs and increases in business taxes. So, in this year’s short session, lawmakers have to pass what’s called a supplemental budget, which accounts for differences in revenue or spending since the budget passed last year. The governor and each chamber propose budgets, and a negotiation begins.
How big is the budget gap?
In December, the state projected a $2.3 billion shortfall in the 2025-2027 budget. That’s about 3.5 percent of the overall budget. Before the session started, Governor Bob Ferguson introduced his supplemental budget proposal with $800 million in cuts. They included reductions to state childcare programs and public schools. He also proposed redirecting about $560 million from the Climate Commitment Act - meant for projects that mitigate pollution - toward family tax credits. Additionally, he called for using $1 billion in the state’s rainy day fund.
“We are asking a lot of state agencies and I recognize that this proposed budget does not make their life any easier and that’s an understatement,” Gov. Ferguson said in December.
Earlier this month, the state released a rosier financial picture than they did in December, with projected collections for the current biennium at $75.3 billion, up $827 million since the November forecast and an increase of $438 million since the budget was originally enacted last year. But while those extra hundreds of millions will offset the hole lawmakers have to fill, they say that rising costs still necessitate cuts.
What about this millionaire’s tax, would that solve it?
Not this year. While it would collect $3.5 billion in its first year, those first collections wouldn’t start until 2029 – that is if it gets signed into law and survives expected future challenges in the courts and at the ballot box.
How is this playing out in the legislature?
Democrats, who control both the House and the Senate, have been pushing for cuts to make up the budget gap. They are also calling for drawing from the state’s rainy day reserves, though not as much as Ferguson.
“So the cost of just doing business as a state for policies that are already in place, for funding our K-12 education system, for providing state scholarships for people wanting to attend higher ed, for providing child care and early learning opportunities for our youngest Washingtonians and all of those services that people depend on. The costs continue to rise,” said Sen. June Robinson, D-Everett, who is chair of the Senate’s Ways and Means committee.
The House Supplemental Budget Proposal
The Senate Supplemental Budget Proposal
Republicans say that Democrats’ proposed supplemental budget changes will hit rural communities the hardest, such as cuts to Running Start and childcare.
“They chose the most harmful cuts to our kids in our rural schools and our property poor schools,”
They also criticized raiding other dedicated funds to balance the budget and say that taxpayers are tired of new taxes.
“Part of the big concerns other than what was noted is, you know, we're also doing a bunch of budget gimmicks like raiding one-time raids of dedicated funds to sweep them into the general fund. These are the same budget gimmicks that got us into run on multi-billion dollar deficits in the first place,” said Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn, the assistant minority floor leader in the House.
What happens if they don’t figure it out before the session ends?
The last day of the regular session is scheduled for March 12. The governor may call for a special session if lawmakers can’t come to an agreement by that date.
Lawmakers consider bill to protect voter registration rights
By Paris Jackson
Published February 26, 2026
A bill intended to protect the rights of Washington voters and manage voter registration laws is making it further than it did last year in the state capital.
House Bill 1916 would make it harder to challenge a voter’s registration by making the rules tighter and increasing penalties for bringing false challenges.
This has become a partisan issue as Democrats want to nip frivolous challenges by Republicans in the bud, stemming from some Republicans’ unfounded claims of voter fraud in 2020.
The Washington State Standard reports Republicans argue that HB 1916 would add hurdles to public oversight of elections and make it harder to withdraw ineligible voters from the state rolls.
Secretary of State Steve Hobbs told TVW’s The Impact that there are very few cases of voter fraud, but that the process could be more transparent.
“All you have to do is look at the Heritage Foundation. They did their own study, and they're a conservative organization, and they looked from 2002 to 2023. And they found what, maybe 80 some non-citizens voted in that time span, Georgia did a massive scanning of their voter database and they found maybe a handful. So it's not the problem that people think, but our office needs to do a better job, and we are doing that of informing the public of how we check all these things, how we're part of the electronic registration information center, how we check every signature,” Hobbs said.
Meanwhile, Washington is among more than 2 dozen states being sued by the U.S. Justice Department for not turning over its voter rolls.
Hobbs says the DOJ is trying to force his office to give up voter information and data, beyond what is public information.
“Now, I am okay with giving DOJ the public information. That's not a problem. But the private information not only goes against state law, go goes against federal law as well. But in our case, DOJ has improperly filed, the lawsuit against us. And so we're still waiting. I think they filed it back in December and they still haven't corrected,” Hobbs said.
Washington lawmakers push to rein in AI chatbots
By Lizz Giordano
Published February 25, 2026
During this year’s legislative session, the tech industry is clashing with lawmakers as Olympia tries to rein in Artificial Intelligence technology. Some bills made it past the mid-session cutoff and are getting bipartisan support, others have died in committee.
Cascade PBS and KNKX reporter Nate Sanford has been tracking these bills.
“There's several pretty big pieces of legislation moving through this year. One really high profile one involves AI chatbots. This is something that Governor Bob Ferguson himself requested,” said Sanford. "It basically concerns chatbots and minors and worries about young people's mental health.”
“Another bill that's moving forward has to do with deepfakes and, basically requiring that developers make tools available so people can tell when something is generated by AI,”Sanford added. “And there's also a bill, involving giving people the rights to their digital AI-generated likeness.”
SB 5984 would require that chatbots regularly remind users that they're talking to an AI-powered tool, and not a real human. It would also require some additional suicide prevention protocols.
Another bill moving forward is SB5886, which has to do with deepfakes, which are AI-manipulated videos, audio, or images that make people appear to say or do things they never did.
The bill would require “developers make tools available so people can tell when something is generated by AI,” Sanford said.
Sanford says tech lobbyists have called these proposed regulations excessive.
“The tech industry has been lobbying against a lot of these bills, arguing that they're too broad. It would be difficult to enforce. They've been saying that, some of the requirements wouldn't actually be technically feasible to implement,” Sanford said. “State lawmakers have been saying that it’s really time to rein in big tech and hold them accountable for these tools of putting out there.”
Those that don’t advance could come back next year.
Bills aimed at protecting immigrants pass cutoff
By Jaelynn Grisso
Published February 24, 2026
Two key bills related to immigration are making their way through the statehouse: the Immigrant Worker Protection Act and the SAFE act. Both come amid increasing federal immigration enforcement throughout the state, leaving the legislature to balance state protections and federal policy.
Requested by Attorney General Nick Brown, the Immigrant Worker Protection Act would require employers to inform workers about planned federal immigration enforcement within 72 hours of receiving notice.
Proponents of the bill point to the economic benefit immigrant workers provide, especially when they can go to work without being in fear of enforcement.
“No one should go to work in fear. This policy creates predictability, strengthens community safety, and helps our economy function better for everyone,” said state Rep. Julio Cortez,D-Everett.
Meanwhile, opponents argue House Bill 2105 could conflict with federal law.
“The stated goal is to protect employees, but we want to make sure we’re not unintentionally putting employers in a bad situation,” said Rep. Chris Corry, R-Yakima.
The bill passed the House and now goes to the Senate for consideration. Similar legislation has been passed in several states, including California, Oregon and Illinois.
Another bill, the Secure and Accountable Federal Enforcement, or SAFE, act would require court orders for federal immigration agents to enter “non-public” spaces such as schools, health care facilities and election offices.
Supporters said the bill, Senate Bill 5906, brings clarity to fearful families.
“This clarity matters uncertainty around enforcement practices creates a chilling effect on families who avoid schools, childcare and medical care, which undermines public health, educational outcomes and community safety,” said Giovanni Severino, public policy director for Progreso: Latino Progress.
The bill would also prohibit school district and early learning employees from collecting data on the status of their students and their families. It passed the Senate and now moves to the House for consideration.
Could Washington pass a millionaire tax this year?
By Venice Buhain
Published February 23, 2026
This year, Washington state lawmakers are considering an income tax on millionaires to close a budget shortfall. Opponents say it could open the door to a state income tax and drive businesses and wealthy individuals out of the state.
To close a budget gap of about $2.3 billion in this biennium, state Democrats have proposed a 9.9% tax on income of over $1 million.
Washington is one of 9 states that doesn’t have an income tax, which is barred in the state constitution. State services like schools and highways and courts rely instead on property taxes, sales taxes and other various fees. Local taxes and fees also add to taxpayers’ tax bills.
Senate Bill 6346 would:
- Impose a 9.9% tax on income in excess of $1 million.
- Apply to 30,000 Washington residents
- Raise about $3.5 billion in its first year
- Start collection in 2029
The millionaire tax wouldn’t apply to:
- Retirement accounts
- Homes
- The first $1 million of annual income
For someone making $1.2 million, the tax would only apply to $200,000 of their income.
Primary sponsor state Sen. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, and others called the Tax on Millionaires a move away from Washington’s regressive tax system.
“This is a way of changing our direction so that our tax system is adequate to the needs that we face in the 21st century. It's also a way of making sure that the tax systems that my kids will be living under is one that is fairer than the one you and I have lived under,” Pedersen said.
State Sen. Emily Alvarado, D-West Seattle, said the new tax would also provide support for the middle and working class.
“Today I am proud to stand up for low-income Washingtonians, to stand up for working class and middle-class Washingtonians and small businesses, and to stand up to invest in our schools, our healthcare, our childcare, and the services that Washingtonians rely on,” Alvarado said.
But opponents say that Senate Bill 6346 will make Washington a less competitive place to live and work.
“People with means, people who earn the amounts as described in this bill, they have the means to move their assets, to move their residences out of our state,” state Sen. Chris Gildon, R-Puyallup, said. “When they leave… we lose out on all of their revenue, we lose out their jobs, on so many things because they'll just take it with them especially when the rate is so punitive.”
State Sen. Matt Boehnke, R-Kennewick, called the bill “a gateway drug to taxing everyone.”
“There's an opportunity where this will continue to slide down this course that we're not going after millionaires…. We're going to be going out to everybody in the state of Washington.” Boehnke said.
The bill currently includes a tax break for small businesses and other credits and deductions.
Gov. Bob Ferguson said he would like to see the money earmarked for programs aimed at affordability, including expansion of the state’s Working Families Tax Credit.
“Do I support the concept of a millionaires tax? You better believe it, absolutely,” he said. “But -- and this is a significant but -- it just can't be $3.5 billion that goes into our general fund. That's not going to work.”
The bill passed the Senate and is now being considered in the House. If the bill passes, supporters and opponents alike expect it to be challenged in the courts and ballot boxes.
