Note: We know this update is arriving later than usual. The session may be behind us, but the questions it raised — about budget priorities, federal interference, and long-term strategy — are still shaping our work. We appreciate your patience and hope this reflection offers helpful context as we look toward 2026.
Looking back at our state’s recently concluded legislative session, very little ended up a surprise. We had signals last spring that we were heading into a serious budget deficit—signals that became more dire as we moved into summer and fall.
By the time session began in January, legislators were clear: there would be no funding for new programs.Even recently enacted programs would be reviewed to determine whether they should be scaled back, cut, or eliminated.
This year’s budget crisis meant that most of our legislative priorities related to new programs didn’t survive fiscal cutoff. Creating an unemployment protection system for undocumented workers, providing free communication for people in state prisons, and establishing a statewide jail oversight system—each of these proposals required new funding and didn’t make it out of fiscal committees.
But this was not unexpected. One necessary part of pushing for legislative change is being prepared for longer timeframes. Budget shortfalls, lightning-fast short sessions, and the challenge of encouraging legislators to take on systemic issues—these things often take more than one session. We’ve worked on bills that took ten years to pass. We’re pragmatic enough to prepare for the long haul.
Being ready for factors outside our control, like budget deficits, also means embracing incremental progress. In tight fiscal environments, it may be strategic to scale down a proposal in its first year and build it up over time. Circumstances require us to ask tough questions: If we can’t fully fund a program, could we start with a pilot? Could we cap enrollment? Could we begin with a smaller benefit? These aren’t concessions—in Olympia, incrementalism can be a powerful path to long-term systemic change.
We’ll need to keep asking these questions in 2026. The signals we’re getting about the fiscal situation aren’t encouraging, and federal uncertainty remains high, with threats to withhold or cut funding to our state.
We also need to reexamine our policy proposals in light of federal overreach. For example, it’s become clear the federal government intends to use IRS information to enforce immigration laws, something that, until recently, was off limits. We no longer have that assurance. Any policy proposal built on that outdated understanding must be reworked to reflect this new reality.
In 2026, we must push for policies that disentangle our state from federal interference—and for laws that affirm Washington’s role in protecting the health and safety of our residents, even when federal priorities clash with our values. One success this year was House Bill 1232, which gave our Department of Health the authority to inspect privately run detention centers, even those under federal contract, to ensure compliance with Washington’s basic health and safety standards: access to clean drinking water, food safety, and medical care. We need more of this.
And we must continue challenging outdated assumptions that hold back real reform. During this year’s budget crisis, we were disappointed to hear the Governor oppose any cuts to the Department of Corrections (DOC). As recently as 2021, DOC explored budget savings through expanded earned release—an approach that would save money, reduce racial disparities, and incentivize positive behavior and program participation. Assuming that any DOC budget reduction poses a threat to public safety is an outdated notion, driven by simple politics over good policy, and one that policymakers continue to disappointingly embrace. We have more work to do to shift that mindset.
Thank you for your interest in—and support of—our work at Columbia Legal Services. We’ll keep you updated on our legislative advocacy and our priorities for 2026.
By Antonio Ginatta, CLS Policy Director
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