Governor says new spending plan is ‘too risky,’ though leaders remain unsure what revenue he supports

OLYMPIA – Gov. Bob Ferguson said Thursday that he is not ready to support a slate of proposals from Democratic lawmakers to raise billions in additional revenue and close the state’s multibillion-dollar budget deficit.

Legislative leaders in both parties, though, say it remains unclear where the governor stands 10 days before the session ends.

“At a time of great economic uncertainty and assaults by the Trump Administration on core state services for working families, raising $12 billion in taxes is unsustainable, too risky and fails to adequately prepare Washington state for the crisis that looms ahead,” Ferguson said in a statement Thursday afternoon.

Ferguson’s comments come as lawmakers race to adopt a budget by April 27, when the 2025 legislature is scheduled to adjourn. The job has proved challenging, as lawmakers grapple with a deficit Ferguson has pegged at around $16 billion.

New revenue proposals introduced by Democrats include increasing the capital gains and estate tax rates on wealthy residents, raising business and occupation tax rates, and increasing the cap on property tax increases from 1% to 3%.

While Ferguson has said the Legislature could not adopt a budget that relies solely on cutting spending, which he said would result in cutting “core services,” the governor has remained tight-lipped on what revenue streams he could support.

During an April 2 press conference, Ferguson did not say whether he could support an array of other tax proposals introduced in the legislature, including increasing the cap on yearly property tax increases.

“I appreciate all of the questions on different revenue sources, I’m just not going to engage in those, so I appreciate that,” Ferguson told reporters. “Those are conversations we’re going to have, there’s a lot of negotiations to go on, but I’m just going to get into specific proposals right now.”

The governor said Thursday that legislators have “made progress on key issues in its updated revenue proposals,” including, moving away from a new tax on wealthy residents to balance the budget that Ferguson said is “untested.”

“We will continue to work together to produce a budget that supports a strong economy, and the people of Washington,” Ferguson said.

The statement from Ferguson, though, does not cite a tax proposal the governor would support, or an amount of new revenue he would back.

Citing uncertainty from the federal government, the potential for steeper cuts and the impact of tariffs, Ferguson said Washington’s budget may soon turn from “challenging” to “dire.”

“We must ensure Washington is in the best possible financial position to weather more cuts and damaging economic policies from a Trump Administration that weaponizes funding to punish those it disagrees with and forces them into compromising their values,” Ferguson said.

On Thursday, legislative leaders also appeared unsure about what revenue Ferguson would ultimately back, or how much in new spending he supports raising.

Senate Minority Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, who met with Ferguson on Tuesday, told reporters Thursday that the governor “really is not telling us anything privately that he’s not saying publicly.”

Ferguson, Braun said, has “been very cautious on solving this problem with new taxes.”

“He’s been reluctant to say ‘pick this tax or pick that tax.’ I think he, to a certain extent, is willing to defer to the legislative majorities,” Braun said.

Speaker of the House Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, who was scheduled to meet with Ferguson Thursday afternoon, said she hadn’t talked to the governor or his office about the proposals, though she hoped to learn more during their meeting.

“My hope is that he has things that he likes, things that he doesn’t like, but I’ve been waiting to hear something he likes when it comes to revenue,” Jinkins said.

Asked if she had “heard about anything that he likes” in regards to revenue, Jinkins responded, “Have you?”