Author Archives: kimberlywirtz

Are you broke yet? Democrats ready to pass even more taxes in 2026

LISTEN: Jobs Tax. Income Tax. Innovation Tax. Sen. John Braun Says: Enough to Democrat Tax Hikes

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Affordability remains the number one concern for families across Washington, yet the policies championed by Democrats in Olympia continue to push our state further out of step with the rest of the country. Instead of easing pressures, their decisions are making Washington one of the least affordable places to live, work, and run a business.

Gas prices are falling nationwide, but Washington still ranks among the top three most expensive states in the country. Our restaurants face the highest operating costs in America while earning the lowest profit margins. Schools, nonprofits, and small businesses are still suffering from last year’s expansion of the sales tax.

As we approach the 2026 legislative session, people have every reason to be concerned. We are currently facing a $4 billion budget shortfall, but so far, we are hearing about proposals in the neighborhood of $11 billion in new or higher taxes.

Democratic leaders have already announced plans for a new tax on jobs—one that threatens our economy—and they have openly stated their intent to pass a state income tax this year.

When they tell you they plan to do this, believe them.

The reality about a state income tax

Washington’s constitution prohibits a graduated income tax. Any tax that applies only to individuals earning above a certain amount—while exempting everyone else—is unconstitutional. Despite this, Democrats appear determined to push one through anyway and send it to the state Supreme Court, hoping the court will reclassify it as an “excise tax.”

If that happens, the door opens for the very tax Washington voters have rejected 11 times at the ballot box.

Some voters mistakenly believe that adopting an income tax would mean eliminating our sales tax. That is not on the table. There is no proposal—none—to model our system after Oregon’s, which has an income tax but no sales tax.

Meanwhile, several of our largest employers have already stated publicly that they will leave Washington if an income tax is enacted. For decades, our Democratic governors touted the lack of an income tax as a key incentive for companies to locate here. Now, the majority party is prepared to give those same employers every reason to leave.

We have a fight ahead

Republicans will fight to protect you, your paycheck, and your job from any attempt to impose an income tax in Washington. But we cannot do it alone.

You can make a difference by contacting Democratic legislators and telling them to reject this tax. You can testify when the bill receives a hearing. And you can encourage your friends, neighbors, and family members to get involved as well.

Learn how to testify in committee

I will keep you updated as this and other harmful proposals move through the Legislature. Your participation matters. Your voice matters.

Together, we can make sure our voices are heard.

Sincerely,

Senator John Braun

Can Washington afford it?

Before passing another law, we should ask one question: Can Washington afford it – not just in dollars, but
in safety, trust and opportunity?

Families across Washington are struggling to pay bills, find affordable housing, and feel safe in their
communities. Polls show “affordability” is the people’s top priority. Every decision in Olympia has a cost,
and it’s time we make affordability the test for every policy – financial, moral and generational.

As the minority, our job is to hold the majority accountable for the cost of their leadership and to offer
common-sense solutions Washington CAN afford.
This session we will connect every issue – from taxes to education to public safety – back to this simple,
people-centered truth:

Washington can’t afford policies that make life harder for the families we represent.

Myth vs fact:

MYTH: So much was cut from the budget last year that there isn’t anything left to cut.

FACT: The budget actually GREW by 8.2% last year. Democrats didn’t make cuts – they changed their funding priorities and programs such as one caring for drug-addicted babies were defunded.

MYTH: Last year’s deficit was $16 billion to $20 billion.

FACT: According to NONPARTISAN staff, the true deficit was $7.3 billion. Democrats made a policy choice to fund $4 billion in pay raises for state employees. They did NOT need to pass the largest tax increase in state history.

MYTH: We need more “revenue,” including an income tax.

FACT: The Democratic majority doesn’t have a revenue problem. It has a spending problem. Democrats need to reevaluate their priorities. Also, a graduated income tax, which taxes people at different rates based on their income, is unconstitutional in Washington and voters have rejected a state income tax 11 times. This hasn’t deterred Democrats from pushing for one and lobbying the state Supreme Court to consider it an excise tax instead.

By the numbers:

The fastest growing part of the budget is lawsuit settlements worth billions of taxpayer dollars paid to victims and their families for Democratic mismanagement of state agencies and their policies that result in the injury and death of the most vulnerable.
Washington remains dead last nationwide for the number of law enforcement officers per capita, despite the hiring of more than 300 new officers.
Washington is one of the three most expensive states for gas prices due to $0.52/gal in Democratic carbon taxes
The average household income in Washington is roughly half what is required to qualify for the median-priced home.
Washington’s restaurants have to charge the highest prices in the nation, but have the lowest profit margins in the nation (1.5% compared to the 4% national average).
Washington is rated 35th nationwide for business climate, down from 15th in 2022. The drop is due to the income tax on capital gains.
Washington ranks as the 7th least affordable state for infant care, with care for one infant costing 17.8% of a family’s yearly income.
Democratic policies will force an 18.6% electric rate hike over the next two years for many Western Washington consumers.
Washington could see blackouts across the state due to Democrats’ policies that will remove 1292 megawatts of electricity from the grid in 2026.

Keep Washington Livable

Reject policies that make life more expensive
Advance solutions that reduce costs and reward hard work and innovation
Protect jobs and keep job providers in Washington

Washington can’t afford higher taxes and fewer economic opportunities.

Keep Washington Safe

Prioritize victims over offenders
Expand and strengthen law enforcement
Protect kids from overdoses, abuse and exploitation

Washington can’t afford policies that put our communities in danger.

Keep Washington’s Promise

Improve public school academic attendance and performance
Support stronger, healthier families
Reinvest in foster care and childcare programs

Washington can’t afford to neglect its responsibility to our kids and to their future prosperity.

Local flooding and a state of emergency

The 20th Legislative District has been impacted by heavy rains this week, resulting in localized flooding and landslides. Randall is completely cut off and Highway 12 remains closed, officials do not know when roads will reopen.

The governor has declared a state of emergency, which includes the activation of 300 National Guardsmen to assist with response (pending approval from the federal government.)

Today, at noon, he held a news conference to update everyone on the status of the response. Watch the press conference.

According to the governor and emergency management officials, the situation is unpredictable. They do not know exactly what will happen when the second wave of water reaches the lower areas of the rivers. They expect rivers to crest around 10 p.m.

This is affecting areas on both sides of the mountains and up and down the entire state.

If you have been advised to evacuate, please do so. Do not drive through standing water. Stay off of the dikes – they could fail and cause serious injury. What we will see happen this evening will test the work done after the work done in 2021 on our levies. Do not assume that because you made it through previous floods okay that you won’t experience dangerous conditions now.

The next 12 hours will be critical and will place a lot of demands on our emergency services. You can help by following guidelines and staying away from evacuated areas and flood waters.

I am concerned for all who are impacted and urge everyone to continue to take necessary precautions. As always, I hear stories of our local emergency personnel, government officials, and community members who have stepped up to care for their neighbors. I am grateful to serve a community that is defined a strong sense of care.

My latest column: Soft-on-crime legislators have blood on their hands, local prosecutor says

On the surface, a pair of murders in our state nearly two months ago don’t have anything in common except for each occurring in mid-October and resulting in the arrest of a young man.

One occurred in north Seattle, the other in Spokane — far from our corner of the state. Yet it’s a local prosecutor, Lewis County’s Jonathan Meyer, who sees two common denominators.

Not only are the suspected murderers both former residents of Green Hill School, the county’s state-run juvenile facility, but he ties the timing of the crimes to this year’s passage of House Bill 1815.

It’s among the latest additions to a very long list of soft-on-crime laws supported by Democrats.

READ THE FULL COMMENTARY

STATEMENT: Corruption in race-based homeownership program exploits taxpayers, undermines public trust

OLYMPIA… Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, is calling for a full investigation and immediate accountability after a Seattle journalist’s months-long investigation revealed information indicating that people connected to a race-restricted homeownership program have been misusing taxpayer funds for personal gain.

The investigation involves the Community Reinvestment Program managed by the state Department of Commerce. It was launched by majority Democrats through a $200 million budget appropriation in 2022 and received another infusion in the budget adopted in April.

Braun said the apparent scandal demonstrates a deeper problem: state-endorsed discrimination creates fertile ground for corruption, allowing a select few to profit while struggling families are fed false hope.

“This mess isn’t an accident — corruption thrives wherever government decides certain people get special treatment and others don’t. When politicians divide people by race, they create a shadow system with no transparency, no fairness, and no results. That’s exactly what we’re seeing here.

“The Democratic majority funneled another $50 million to this program last year. People were told to trust this program – that it would have widespread impact in minority homeownership. Instead, the report I saw today indicates it’s been treated like a private bank account. This is about more than wasting money — it has stolen hope from families counting on a fair chance to build a future.

“When public money is hijacked by self-serving operators, every Washingtonian pays the price. Corruption at any level is morally rotten, but especially if it happens under the nose of the agency that has been entrusted to oversee this program. This financially destructive to our state and simply cannot continue.

Braun said Senate Republicans will sponsor legislation to:

Eliminate discriminatory housing programs that pick winners and losers based on race
Impose strict oversight and spending controls on state-funded nonprofits
Enforce performance standards so that assistance reaches real families, not insiders

STATEMENT: Another Green Hill scandal a continuation of ‘systemic failure’

WATCH KING TV’S REPORT

CENTRALIA — Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, issued the following statement today in response to reports that staff at Green Hill School in Chehalis recorded sexual acts with inmates in custody:

“The reports coming out of Green Hill School are appalling. Instead of rehabilitating inmates housed at the facility, some staff have been sexually exploiting them – and recording it.

“Arrests have already been made, which is a necessary first step — but it does not address the deeper breakdowns that allowed this to happen.

“The ‘JR-to-25’ policy expanded the juvenile-justice population without considering the resources or safeguards necessary to manage it responsibly. Mixing adult offenders with younger residents has created dangerous overcrowding and a volatile work environment. That instability has driven out qualified staff, invited misconduct, and put both youth and employees in harm’s way.

“I am calling for the immediate release of all investigation findings, the termination of any remaining implicated employees, and a 30-day corrective-action plan from DCYF that includes clear benchmarks for staffing, training, supervision, and oversight.

“The Legislature must also conduct bipartisan public hearings to examine not just these criminal acts, but the policies that created this environment. The facility is not meeting its mission and it’s costing the state three times as much to operate.

“Those in state custody are there to be rehabilitated, not used for the sexual gratification of staff who have shown they have no business working in the system. Accountability must be swift, transparency must be complete, and the culture at Green Hill must change from the top down.”

“I’ve proposed solutions to address this ongoing problem, none of which have made it out of the Democratic-controlled Legislature despite bipartisan support.”

During the 2025 legislative session, Braun sponsored legislation (Senate Bill 5278) that would have improved conditions at the state’s largest juvenile institutions – Green Hill School and Echo Glen, near Snoqualmie –by allowing them to send some of the inmates over 18 years of age to adult facilities operated by the Department of Corrections. The Senate passed the bill, but House Democrats killed it at the request of Sen. Claire Wilson, a King County Democrat whose own bill on juvenile justice lacked support.

Braun said he will urge the Senate Human Services and Ways and Means committees to coordinate hearings on the Green Hill failures, as well as the statewide effects of the JR-to-25 expansion on safety, staffing, and rehabilitation outcomes.

Background

Two Green Hill School staff have been arrested and charged with custodial sexual misconduct; at least one has entered a guilty plea.
In July 2024, DCYF suspended new intakes at Green Hill School and Echo Glen Children’s Center amid escalating safety and staffing problems.
The JR-to-25 policy allows some offenders to remain in juvenile facilities until age 25, leading to overcrowding and increased incidents of violence and assault.
Media and oversight reports have documented at least 21 criminal referrals involving Green Hill staff since 2024.

NEWSLETTER: Taxes so high even a Democrat wants cuts

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

On October 1, several of the Democrats’ newest tax increases went into effect—and you may already be seeing the impacts in higher prices and banking fees. Here are just a few examples:

New sales tax on previously untaxed services (SB 5814). This tax will take $4 billion out of taxpayers’ pockets over the next four years and require the Department of Revenue to hire 44 employees just to administer it. One way you will feel this pinch is through higher streaming and cable fees.
Higher taxes on service businesses (HB 2081). The tax rate on many service providers jumped to 2.1%, from 1.75%, depending on their level of gross revenue. Because the tax is based on **gross receipts and not just profit**, this hits small-margin businesses the hardest. The result? Lost jobs and higher prices.
A 50% increase in the cost to access state-owned lands. The annual Discover Pass went from $30 to $45. The state predicts this will lead to 15% fewer visitors to our parks, but Democrats did it anyway.

Senate Republicans offered a responsible alternative:

A balanced four-year budget
No cuts to core services
No tax increases

Democrats refused to allow a vote on it.

Instead, they and Governor Ferguson imposed the largest package of tax increases in state history to fund a budget that still made deep and troubling cuts—including closing a facility that cares for drug-addicted newborns, kidney dialysis, and mothballing a much-needed mental health facility in Clark County.

Almost immediately after its passage, their budget began to unravel. According to the state’s September revenue forecast, the current two-year budget is already more than $400 million in the red. And that doesn’t even include the $2+ billion in legal settlements the state is expected to owe over the next four years due to mismanagement and lawsuits.

One Democrat is even talking about a tax cut. Is it enough? The legislator who wants to now cut sales tax voted for the Senate Democrats’ version of the new budget, which required an astounding $21 billion in new taxes to balance, before voting for the final budget and the $12+ billion tax package that went with it. A tiny cut in sales tax would not come close to providing relief to the taxpayers.

Either way, expect them to push for even higher taxes when we address the supplemental budget during the 2026 legislative session beginning in January.

How much is enough?

Growing government while digging deeper into taxpayers’ pockets—and sacrificing vital services—is the wrong direction for Washington.

If cuts are necessary, we should start by reducing wasteful spending and bureaucracy, not programs that support the most vulnerable. Raising taxes should always be the last resort. Forcing hardworking Washingtonians to pay for the majority’s poor decisions is unacceptable.

You deserve better.

Sincerely,

Senator John Braun
R-Centralia

Our paid leave program is headed for a financial cliff

While I’m on the subject of things that are putting the state budget in a hole, I have to mention the Paid Family Medical Leave Act (PFMLA). This is the program that pays a benefit to Washington workers who need to take approved family or medical leave.

The program already experiences intermittent deficits as it pays out benefits before receiving premiums, but it will see a sustained $350 million deficit in 2029.

More than 320,000 people applied for the program between July 1, 2024 and June 30 of this year. Of those, 240,000 people received $2 billion in benefits — an increase of $300 million over the previous year.

What is the solution?

During this year’s session, many of my colleagues and I voted for a bill that would have required the total premium rate for the program to be set at the lowest possible rate necessary to maintain solvency, reduce fluctuations, and build a four-month reserve. Although the bill passed in the Senate, House Democrats killed it.

Instead, they attempted to increase the current cap on the amount of the premium for the program, which is now 1.2% of your salary, to 2%. I expect to see another attempt in the upcoming legislative session to increase or remove the cap.

I will keep you informed as this develops.

Protecting signature gatherers

My colleague Sen. Jeff Wilson, R–Longview, is preparing legislation to strengthen and clarify protections for Washingtonians engaged in the initiative process. Recent reports of harassment and intimidation toward signature gatherers have highlighted the need for clearer laws and more consistent enforcement.

Sen. Wilson is reaching out to law enforcement statewide to seek their input as he finalizes the bill. His goal is to ensure that officers have the tools they need to protect citizens’ rights and that everyone can safely take part in this vital form of civic participation.

Protecting the people’s voice has always been a Washington value, and this effort reaffirms our commitment to that principle.

What to do about Washington’s housing crisis?

Washington continues to face a critical housing shortage. Every year, Democrats talk about affordable housing, yet their actions make the problem worse. Instead of removing barriers, they pass new regulations, higher taxes, and increased fees that make it harder and more expensive to build homes.

Consider just a few of the ways these policies are driving prices up:

Restricting access to timberland When the state locks up land that could be responsibly harvested and managed, we get less lumber and higher prices. Builders can’t build with what they can’t afford to buy.
Overregulation and permitting delays Cumbersome permitting processes and excessive regulations slow down or stop development entirely. Time is money—and these delays add thousands of dollars to the price of every home or apartment.
Reduced supply drives up prices for everyone When we don’t build enough housing, homeowners and renters both pay the price. Scarcity sends prices skyrocketing.

These policies don’t just hurt families—they also hurt the state budget. When fewer homes are built, the state misses out on property-tax revenue from new housing, as well as other taxes related to real-estate transactions and construction. To make up the difference, Democrats have repeatedly raised taxes on existing homeowners in a desperate attempt to balance the budget.

The solution is simple:

✅ Make it easier and less expensive to build

✅ Increase supply

✅ Lower costs for everyone

It’s time to stop talking about affordable housing and start removing the barriers that prevent it.

Listen to my new podcast where I dig deeper into this issue with and discuss real solutions that can get Washington building again. My guest is Kurt Wilson, Chief Operating Officer at Soundbuilt Homes in Puyallup.

$292 million failure shows state’s incompetence is a feature, not a fluke

CENTRALIA — Senate Republican Leader John Braun, Centralia, issued the following statement today in response to the Seattle Times report that the state has suspended a $292 million IT modernization project after more than a decade of failed progress:

“Suspending this project further exposes a long-standing problem with large state contracts – the chronic mismanagement of taxpayer dollars. That the dysfunction and incompetence of demonstrated here ever got this far without results or accountability is shameful. We have a culture of apathy, excuse-making, and blurred responsibility in our state government today, and this is just one example.

“If this had happened in the private sector, someone would’ve been fired years ago. Instead, we watched the price tag skyrocket and deadlines slip while agency leaders shrugged or got bogged down in power struggles and petty squabbles. That’s not public service — it’s public negligence.

Braun called for accountability for those responsible for overseeing, or hindering, the failed IT project and urged the development of a new oversight structure for large-scale state contracts.

“Washingtonians deserve better. We need a clear process where qualified project managers with real-world experience — not political appointees — are empowered to make decisions and stop waste before it spirals out of control. And this needs to extend beyond IT projects. This process should extend to all state agencies – including the Department of Transportation, which is constantly plagued with missed deadlines and blown budgets because no one provides serious oversight or enforces standards of performance.

“The upcoming 2026 Legislative Session provides an opportunity for the Legislature to rein in government waste and prove that we take our fiduciary responsibility to the people of Washington seriously. If the majority won’t sponsor legislation to hold those in charge more accountable, Republicans will.”

NEWSLETTER: How did Washington issue this driver a CDL?

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

By now, you’ve seen the stories on the news about the commercial truck driver who caused the deaths of three people while performing an illegal U-turn on a three-lane highway in Florida. The press has reported that the driver, Mr. Harjinder Singh, was issued a commercial driver’s license here in Washington.

As it turns out, Mr. Singh is in the United States illegally, but legal immigration status is required by both federal and state law to qualify for a CDL.

A post-crash assessment administered by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) revealed that Mr. Singh had a significant language barrier. He answered only two out of 12 questions correctly on a verbal English test and failed a road sign test, identifying only one of four signs correctly.

How then, did Washington state issue Mr. Singh a commercial driver’s license?

The simple answer is: Because DOL violated both federal and state law.

Existing Law

To legally obtain a CDL in Washington, you must:

Be at least 18 (or 21 for interstate driving)
Hold a valid Washington driver’s license
Submit documentation verifying legal presence or lawful status
Pass both knowledge and practical driving (skills) tests
Meet medical fitness standards

Similarly, federal law also requires proof that someone is in the United States legally in order to qualify for a CDL. As I mentioned, Mr. Singh did not meet this basic requirement and should not have been issued a CDL in any state.

Both the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Washington State Department of Licensing have said they will investigate the incident. When nonpartisan committee staff asked DOL what their timeline would be for their investigation, DOL’s legislative and policy director sent an email reply that included the following statement:

“Regardless of what type of license was issued, Mr. Singh would have received a commercial driver license because he passed all of the required tests and met all requirements.”

Since he is in the United States illegally, we know this is not true. So, how did this happen?

DOL Failure

Simply put, DOL violated state and federal law by issuing the CDL to Mr. Singh.

This glaring oversight will have political ramifications for Washington. Depending on the results of the federal investigation, we could lose $10.5 million a year in federal funding.

Was the law overlooked or ignored? Is staff receiving the proper training to deny licenses to illegal immigrants? We deserve to know.

We also deserve to know how many other unqualified individuals are driving commercial trucks on our highways. Depending on what we learn through the investigations, we may need to address this during the upcoming legislative session. We should, at the very least, align our law with federal law, requiring commercial drivers to be proficient in English, so they are able to read road signage and read emergency notifications.

Democrat-perpetuated Problem

My colleague, Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, sponsored a bill (Senate Bill 5464) last session that would have required DOL to update its CDL/immigration status code for clarity. It also would have required the agency to make available the information on how immigration status impacts the ability to get a CDL.

Most importantly, Sen. King’s bill would have required better training for department staff on what kind of documentation is required to prove citizenship/residency.

Unfortunately, majority Democrats killed the bill. Thanks to them, Washington is a “sanctuary state,” and they argued SB 5464 would lead to the DOL reporting illegal immigrants to the federal government.

Did our “sanctuary state” status influence the process at DOL that allowed Mr. Singh to get his license? That remains to be seen. But it’s clear that the law was not followed and three people died because of it.

I’ll be watching as this develops.

If you have questions, you can email me at john.braun@leg.wa.gov.

Sincerely,

John Braun

$292 million failure shows state’s incompetence is a feature, not a fluke

Following is a news release I sent to the press this morning.

CENTRALIA — Senate Republican Leader John Braun issued the following statement today in response to the Seattle Times report that the state has suspended a $292 million IT modernization project after more than a decade of failed progress:

Braun called for accountability for those responsible for overseeing, or hindering, the failed IT project and urged the development of a new oversight structure for large-scale state contracts.

Majority’s massive expansion of sales tax is costly, chaotic and unnecessary

The following is my commentary that appeared in The Centralia Chronicle on Aug. 22.

A colleague of mine was recently told by his teen’s drivers-education school to expect a larger bill this fall because of the “crazy tax hikes signed by the governor.” In this case it’s the new law that will force even more businesses in our state to collect sales tax, starting Oct. 1.

The person who delivered the bad news was apologetic; however, this is the fault of the state’s majority Democrats. A teen-driving course that now costs $650 will soon be closer to $715 once you add the new sales tax — passed primarily to cover the multibillion-dollar pay raises for state workers approved by the previous governor.

Even though it’s estimated to cost nearly $4 billion over four years, the sales-tax hike isn’t the largest of the tax increases that will hit when October arrives. That title belongs to the jump in the business-and-occupation tax rate, which is expected to take another $5.6 billion from Washington employers over four years.

Read the full column.

Fairness in Sports, Food Access, and Forest Stewardship: A Triple Challenge for Washington

NEWSLETTER: What got in the way of helping at-risk youth?

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Recently, The Seattle Times published an editorial that sheds light on why my bill (Senate Bill 5278) to address the dangerous overcrowding at Green Hill School failed to become law—even though it passed the Senate unanimously. I encourage you to read the piece, but I want to briefly explain the issue here.

READ THE FULL EDITORIAL

As many of you know, Green Hill has long faced serious problems: assaults, riots, drug smuggling, overdoses, and sexual misconduct. These conditions have made it impossible for residents to receive the treatment and services the state is obligated to provide—services that are critical to helping them rebuild their lives and reenter society.

One of the main causes of this crisis is a law that allows individuals who committed crimes before age 18 to remain in juvenile facilities until the age of 25. Had they been just a few months older, they would have entered the adult system instead. Unfortunately, the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF), which oversees Green Hill, does not have the authority to transfer these individuals to Department of Corrections (DOC) facilities—even once they become adults.

That’s where my bill came in. SB 5278 would have allowed for the transfer of certain offenders over the age of 18 into more appropriate DOC placements. The goal was to relieve pressure on Green Hill, improve safety for residents and staff, and restore the facility’s ability to provide rehabilitation and treatment.

The Senate agreed. Every member, Republican and Democrat, voted yes.

But SB 5278 was ultimately halted in the House of Representatives. The session ended without action—without relief for the youth and staff who urgently need it.

Read the statement I released when this occurred.

After the session, The Seattle Times submitted a public records request seeking communications between House leadership and the sponsor of a separate bill (Senate Bill 5296) that proposed sentencing reforms for juvenile offenders. While my bill aimed to solve a pressing problem by relocating violent adult inmates, the SB 5296 focused on changing how young people are sentenced in the future.

The Times reported that internal correspondence suggested the two bills were linked as a “package,” even though they addressed different issues and timelines—and were never tied together in any way. This falsehood was used to justify preventing my bill from moving forward.

This violated the public trust.

I’m disappointed by how it played out, but I’m not giving up.

I will reintroduce my bill in the upcoming session and continue working to bring meaningful reform to our juvenile justice system. Green Hill can—and must—be made safer for the youth housed there and the dedicated staff who show up every day to help them succeed.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve. I’ll keep you updated.

Sincerely,

Senator John Braun

A closer look:

Where’s all the “Climate Commitment Act” money going?

The operating budget passed by the Legislature this past session for the 2025-27 biennium spends $174 million dollars collected through the “Climate Commitment Act,” supposedly to improve Washington’s environment.

Where is that money going?

The Washington Policy Center has been tracking these expenditures and reporting them on its website. If you take a look, you’ll find:

Washington state has collected nearly $4 billion in C02 taxes since the “CCA” took effect in 2023.
More than 70% of the money goes toward increasing government bureaucracy, including hiring government employees and paying for studies.
Only 9% of the $174 million in the operating budget goes toward actual “environmental projects.”
Despite the former governor using asthmatic children as a messaging tool to promote the “CCA,” less than 0.2% of the spending goes toward reducing childhood asthma.

The following excerpt from the WPC website explains the problem further:

“Supporters of these expenditures will argue that government overhead is necessary to manage programs that help achieve Washington’s climate goals. However, that has been the approach for two decades and the state has consistently failed not only to meet its CO2 targets but even to reduce emissions. The state has spent billions of dollars on government programs and bureaucracy, always with the promise that results will follow at some point in the future.”

The capital budget also includes money earmarked for climate projects. I encourage you to visit the website again in the future to see the WPC’s analysis of how that money is being spent as well.

You deserve to know.

Instead of failing our children, focus on making their lives better

The following is an opening excerpt from my most recent commentary in The Chronicle. Read the full commentary.

In November 2020, about eight months into the COVID-19 pandemic, I called attention to how classroom closures were causing academic, emotional and social harm to the majority of K-12 students across our state — especially those from lower-income families, and children with special educational needs.

The 2020-21 school year was only about two months along, yet there were already obvious signs that the state’s remote-learning approach was failing our children both “literally and figuratively,” as I put it in a policy paper shared with my fellow legislators and the news media at that time.

While most classrooms eventually reopened the following spring, the damage had already been done. That could and should have been the low point for our state’s children. Yet the failures have continued in the nearly five years since, and in more ways.

Budget Discipline and Legislative Accountability

SPECIAL EDITION: The truth about how the “Big Beautiful Bill” affects Washington

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

You may have seen headlines claiming that the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” recently passed by Congress will gut health care, close hospitals, or take food away from struggling families.

Let’s be clear: That’s false.

What this new law does is restore common sense to federal spending. It protects programs like Medicaid and food assistance by putting limits on fraud, enforcing eligibility, and ensuring benefits are focused on those who truly need them. Seniors, children, people with disabilities, and low-income parents aren’t affected. The reforms apply only to able-bodied adults without young children—and even then, they can meet the new requirements by working, volunteering, or going to school.

Here in Washington, we have time to prepare. These reforms don’t start to kick in until late 2026, with others phasing in gradually over the following years. There’s no crisis. There’s no need for the governor to call legislators back to Olympia for a special session. Instead, there’s just a lot of political grumbling from people who are taking more of your money through their tax increases but seem to have no interest in stretching and protecting your tax dollars by reforming inefficient government programs and systems.

While some are scaring people with political rhetoric and worst-case scenarios, they’re ignoring the real opportunities this law creates. It opens the door to hundreds of millions in federal funds for rural health care, trims bloated tax giveaways for energy companies and provides meaningful tax relief for working families and retirees.

An irony we can’t ignore is that the governor and legislators who are complaining about the effects of the OBBA are the same people who just passed the largest tax increase and operating budget in Washington state history. The budget offered by Senate Republicans would not have raised any taxes, nor would it have made any cuts to services. Under our budget, Washington would be in a more stable position to weather whatever adjustments need to be made to accommodate federal changes.

It’s also hard to take Gov. Ferguson’s concerns about the welfare of children seriously when he signed off on the defunding of a program to care for drug-addicted newborns, as well as the increase in childcare costs and taxes that will burden families who are already struggling to put food on the table.

You can learn more on our WEBSITE.

As always, I’ll keep fighting to make sure our community is heard—and that our tax dollars are spent wisely. If you have any questions, contact me atjohn.braun@leg.wa.gov.

Sincerely,

Sen. John Braun

Drug-filled burritos and sexual misconduct at the Green Hill School

Last week I gave an interview with King TV about the latest news out of the Green Hill School, which is the juvenile detention facility in Chehalis that houses offenders who were convicted before age 18.

Drugs and violence have been a problem for a long time at the school. However, King TV’s story showed video evidence of a member of the Green Hill staff posing as a Door Dash driver and delivering a burrito that, as it turns out, contained drugs that she was smuggling in for an inmate.

The staff member was caught. But what authorities discovered was that she is allegedly part of a larger web of corruption among staff.

Police investigated a record 21 complaints of staff misconduct last year and this year is on track to have the same result.

At least six of those cases involved female staff who were fired for inappropriate sexual conduct with inmates. At least one of those inmates was convicted of two murders.

If you recall, most of the residents at Green Hill are over 18 and will stay at the facility until age 25 before they can be transferred to a Department of Corrections facility. This situation has caused severe overcrowding that has put everyone at Green Hill in danger.

It is stunning that problems such as these continue to surface, but this is what happens when you warehouse violent offenders in unsafe, overcrowded conditions — conditions that also make it hard to recruit quality staff who won’t commit crimes against, for or with inmates.

House Democrats killed my bill to provide the Department of Children, Youth and Families the tools to move inmates over age 18 to adult correctional facilities, thereby relieving the overcrowding and restoring order at Green Hill. Their ineptitude and political game-playing are direct causes for continuing issues.

I will offer similar legislation for the 2026 Legislative Session and it would be wise for the House Democrats to support it.

Survey results: Adult inmates housed at the Green Hill School

Many of you responded to my one-question survey about what should be done with residents at Green Hill School who are over 18, but are expected to remain at the facility until age 25. These adults are incarcerated alongside juvenile offenders and have created an overcrowding problem that is dangerous for staff and residents.

The results by the numbers…

62% of you feel that inmates over age 18 should be moved to facilities operated by the Department of Corrections.

16% agreed, but only if they were convicted of murder or rape.

7% said they should only be relocated to DOC if they had committed a violent crime while residing at Green Hill School.

Only 3% of you said they should remain at the juvenile facility until age 25 – even though they would have gone straight to a DOC facility if they had committed their crime(s) after they turned 18.

NEWSLETTER: Taxing seniors in nursing homes and their families

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Over the past year, I’ve written to you multiple times about the new and higher taxes Democrats sought to impose. While Senate Republicans successfully fought off billions of dollars’ worth of harmful tax proposals, the Democrat majority still managed to push several across the finish line.

Many of these new taxes have already taken effect—or will soon.

One of the worst, and least known, is a steep per-bed tax hike on nursing homes and long-term care facilities. Depending on the type of facility, the tax rate is doubling or even tripling. That amounts to an extra $126 million burden to our long-term care system over the next four years. Rather than cover that cost, the state is forcing care centers to pass it along to their most vulnerable residents—aging, sick, and dying Washingtonians—and the families who support them.

The irony? The vast majority of workers in our state are already being taxed through their paychecks for “Washington Cares,” a long-term care program Democrats claimed would ease costs. But by increasing the cost of care through this new tax, they’ve made that already-weak benefit even less meaningful. Their own actions undercut the very justification they gave for the program.

It didn’t have to be this way.

Senate Republicans proposed a balanced, responsible budget that didn’t raise a single tax and didn’t cut a single service. But when the opportunity came to debate it on the Senate floor, every single Democrat voted “no.”

Instead, the majority passed a bloated $78 billion budget that hikes taxes by $12.5 billion and cuts billions from essential services. The budget cut funding for the completion of a new 45-bed psychiatric facility and a governor’s veto ended funding for a care center for drug-addicted newborns and. Those critical services were traded away for $4.5 billion in new spending.

To make matters worse, their budget is already out of balance—just months after it passed—thanks to the latest state revenue forecast. The result? The governor is now contemplating calling for a special session to “fix” what Democrats broke.

And how do they plan to fix it? By raising even more taxes and cutting even more services.

I must ask the question: How much of your money is enough? Who will they burden next? How many more vulnerable people will suffer because Democrats insist on taking more and delivering less?

If a special session is called, I’ll make sure you know—because you’ll want to pay close attention to the excuses they give for taking even more from taxpayers.

Had the Senate Republican budget been adopted, we wouldn’t be in this mess.

And if Republicans were in the majority, the budget never would have been $7.5 billion in the red to begin with (to set the record straight, the budget shortfall was NEVER $16 billion; Democrats made that number up, and they’re still using it)

You may learn more about the taxes now taking effect by visiting our website.

If you have questions, you may email me at john.braun@leg.wa.gov.

Sincerely,

John Braun

Sales tax increases too?

Democrats passed a sales-tax increase of $4 billion over four years, and it’s no mystery who will pay for it — you, the consumer.

Just a few of the services that will now add sales tax to your bill:

Childcare
Legal services
Cleaning
Security
Computer/IT services

At a time when the average cost of childcare for an infant in Washington is $20,000 a year, Democrats decided to tax it.

The cost of food, health care, housing, prescription drugs and other everyday goods will take a bigger bite out of your wallet.

You get a little more time to prepare for this tax because it doesn’t take effect until October 1, but it will affect everyone in Washington.

What about the gas tax?

The following is an excerpt from my latest commentary in The Chronicle.

Many people are unhappy about the recent hike in the state fuel tax, especially since the average prices for gas and diesel were already much higher here than in every state except California and Hawaii.

But while that 6-cent jump is big compared to the other gas-tax increases our state has seen over the past century, the main drivers behind Washington’s inflated fuel prices continue to be the cap-and-tax law and the low-carbon fuel standard, both approved by majority Democrats in 2021.

Read the full commentary.

Taxing your home

We are in the middle of a long-term, serious affordable-housing crisis, but Democrats keep passing laws to increase your property taxes.

This time, it will cost taxpayers $1.6 billion, and it won’t just affect homeowners. It will hurt renters, too, as property owners have to pass along the expense through higher rents.

This latest move lifts the limit on the amount local governments can increase your property taxes each year through levies, taking us back to square one in the fight to close the education gap between rich and poor school districts.

Some people ask, “What’s wrong with voters deciding to tax themselves more?”

With regards to education funding, a district with residents who live in expensive houses and can afford to pay higher taxes could pass a higher levy rate and give their schools more money. However, a district with lower property values and a lower median income may not be able to afford to increase their levy and would go without the extra funding.

Their students wouldn’t have the same quality of education or opportunity as those in the wealthier areas.

This makes the level of education funding a district receives dependent on their zip code, widening the gap between students from different economic backgrounds.

This is unfair and this is why, under the “McCleary decision,” we leveled the playing field by capping local levies at 1%.

However, districts that can afford to pay more were unhappy with the cap and they just happen to be represented by Democrats, who are in the majority.

The irony in this situation is that Democrats claim to want equity and this policy is anything but equitable.

Taxing your joy

Several of the taxes target things that give people joy in life. If you enjoy it, there’s probably a tax for it.

A 38% increase in the price of hunting and fishing licenses (Effective July 1)
A $100 increase in the cost of marriage licenses (Effective July 27)
An increase in the cost of liquor licenses, costing customers of bars, restaurants, grocery stores and liquor stores more than $8.5 million per year (Effective July 27)
50% increase in the Discover Pass, which is required to park in Washington state parks

Ferguson complicit in largest tax increase in state history

The Seattle Times criticized Gov. Bob Ferguson for signing the Democrats’ budget that included $12.5 billion in state and local taxes — the largest tax increase in state history.

Although the Gov. Ferguson said this wasn’t how he wanted to start off as governor, he also said he was proud to sign the budget. Which is it?

Is he ashamed or proud of approving a $12.5 billion hit to the people of Washington?

Note: The editorial refers to $9.4 billion in taxes, which only accounts for the state tax increases.

Read the full editorial.