By Jim Brunner
The Seattle Times
(TNS)
Apr. 1—Gov. Bob Ferguson on Tuesday panned budget plans by legislative Democrats for relying on “far too much in taxes,” including a new wealth tax he warned could be overturned by courts.
Ferguson called the tax aimed at the state’s richest residents “novel, untested, difficult to implement” and warned it would face an immediate legal challenge, making it a bad choice to close the state’s multibillion-dollar budget shortfall.
Speaking at an afternoon Capitol news conference—one of the few he has had since taking office—Ferguson said neither of the budgets approved by the state House or Senate, which each rely on a wealth tax, “is close to one I can sign.”
While Ferguson credited lawmakers with adopting many of his proposals to cut state spending, he said they have not yet gone far enough. “If the Legislature wishes to complete our work on time, they need to immediately move in another direction,” he said.
Still, Ferguson opened the door to signing a budget that includes some tax increases, saying he’s concluded an “all-cuts” budget would harm core state services.
He declined to say whether he supports or opposes other taxes proposed by Democratic budget writers, including a payroll tax on high wages similar to Seattle’s JumpStart tax.
Majority Democrats in the state Senate and House have passed budgets that rely on versions of a wealth tax that would apply to people with financial assets such as stocks and bond holdings of more than $50 million. Democratic budget leaders estimate their plans would pull in $2 billion to $4 billion a year, starting in 2027.
Ferguson’s opposition to the wealth tax idea isn’t new. He publicly criticized the idea before taking office, departing from the stance taken by outgoing Gov. Jay Inslee, who backed a wealth tax in his lame-duck budget plan released in December.
On Tuesday, he left one crack in the door open on the wealth tax, saying he’d be “open to a conversation” about a relatively small tax that could be used as a test to see whether it can be implemented and hold up in court.
Ferguson said the state must take aggressive action to trim its own unwarranted spending and build up reserves so it has more flexibility to respond to an onslaught of federal budget cuts unleashed by President Donald Trump’s administration.
The state already faces a four-year budget shortfall that Ferguson estimated at $16 billion between expected revenues and planned expenses.
“This is a five-alarm fire, and I intend to treat it that way,” Ferguson said.
He said the state must protect “every penny” of its so-called rainy day fund, the budget reserve account Senate Democrats are proposing to drain to help balance the short-term budget gap. House Democrats have proposed keeping the roughly $3 billion reserve in place over the next two years, an approach Ferguson said he backs.
While laying down his expectations for cuts and minimizing tax increases, Ferguson repeated his vow to not sign any budget that fails to include $100 million over the next two years to help cities and counties hire more police.
The governor’s comments come as lawmakers head into the final month of the regular legislative session scheduled to end April 27.
Photo credit: Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson ((Handout/TNS)
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© 2025 The Seattle Times. Visit www.seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC.
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