by Jerry Cornfield, Washington State Standard
April 8, 2025
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson has let House and Senate lawmakers know some of the concerns he has with the spending plans they’ve crafted.
A nine-page letter penned by his budget director reiterates Ferguson’s clarion call for maintaining strong reserves, restraining new spending and squeezing savings from state-funded programs before considering new revenue.
Budget writers said this week that the level of granular detail in the letter didn’t surprise them. But the absence of advice from the governor on where they could make a bigger dent in addressing a multibillion-dollar shortfall did.
“I would like direction from the governor and [Office of Financial Management] on where we can find additional reductions,” said Senate Ways and Means Committee Chair June Robinson, D-Everett, the architect of the Senate’s spending plan. “We’re in conversation about that.”
Ferguson’s April 4 missive identifies more than two dozen policies and programs of concern scattered through the 1,300-page spending blueprints of each chamber.
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There are too few dollars to fight invasive pests like Japanese beetles and European green crabs. There are too many proposed closures of reentry centers for people exiting prison. Cuts in behavioral health and social service programs are too deep and funding must be locked in for the Washington State Patrol to replace its bomb squad equipment ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
No mention of the governor’s demand for $100 million for law enforcement hiring grants. No comments on the level of education funding, which Ferguson has said he wants to be a greater percentage of the general fund.
Such large policy items are already part of the budget discussions, Brionna Aho, communications director for Ferguson, wrote in an email.
“The intent of the concerns letter is to elevate things that haven’t been covered in those discussions, as well as offer technical feedback, raise implementation concerns and any policy concerns,” she wrote.
But for Robinson, a lawmaker at the center of trying to balance the state’s nearly $80 billion two-year budget, following the feedback in Ferguson’s letter would pose new complications.
“I’ll have to spend money,” she said.
Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn, the lead budget writer for House Republicans, said the letter was a chance to flag the importance of some of the big items, and instead, the governor sent a mixed message.
“If budget writers essentially filled the litany of things he asked for, there would be a lot more spending,” he said. “To me, you can’t have your cake and eat it too.”
Couture said not every item highlighted in the letter is a bad idea. For example, he appreciated the governor’s asking for lawmakers to increase funding to fight invasive European green crabs that threaten commercial shellfish operations in his district.
But he disagrees with Ferguson’s desire to continue funding the Columbia River Gorge Commission. The House budget defunds the commission that was established in 1987 by the states of Oregon and Washington through the Columbia River Gorge Compact. Its role is overseeing policies and programs to protect the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.
This won’t be the last exchange between Ferguson and budget writers.
K.D. Chapman-See, Ferguson’s budget director, plans to submit “a variety of specific policy and technical issues” to budget writers in the near future.
Sen. Chris Gildon, R-Puyallup, who is the Republican leader on the Senate budget committee, said he wants to see if that document discusses the treatment of Ferguson priorities like school funding and the police hiring grants.
“I continue to appreciate and agree with his concerns regarding the importance of maintaining strong reserves,” Gildon said. “I also agree with the admonition that new spending be restrained.”
But the senator said he disagreed with the conclusion in the letter that meaningful reductions alone will not fully address the budget shortfall.
“It is clear that new taxes are not inevitable,” Gildon said.
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