Ferguson: ‘I won’t be proposing new taxes’ — but ‘Does that mean cuts? Well of course’

Ferguson said spending must match revenue forecasts to protect Washington’s AAA bond rating. He said he’s telling legislators he has an expectation of no tax increases.

But Ferguson stopped short of committing to veto a tax increase should it come across his desk, noting it is more than a year until the end of the upcoming legislative session.

“We’re talking about, first of all, something that’s many months away,” he said. “First, what I’ve got in front of me is my proposed budget, which will not have taxes. Number two, what I’m communicating to legislators is that my expectation is we get through this budget cycle this next session without raising taxes. And I’m being very clear about that expectation.”

Republican senator says she’s ‘highly skeptical’ of the governor’s pledge

Republican State Senator Judy Warnick noted a previous promise made by Ferguson to not raise taxes, though one of the first things he did in his term was exactly that.

“I’m highly skeptical about that,” Warnick told The Jason Rantz Show on Seattle Red 770 AM. “There was that promise right away, that first state of the state address, we’re not going to raise taxes, his campaign, we’re not going to raise taxes, and then the first thing he does is sign the largest tax increase ever.”

She doesn’t believe Ferguson will “stick to his guns” given what she calls the Democratic Party’s “propensity to spend.”

The state has “a spending problem, not a revenue problem,” she said.

WA’s 2027-29 budget math already doesn’t work, even before federal Medicaid cuts hit

The legislature’s own analysts project a $4 billion shortfall for the two-year budget that begins in 2027. That’s the cost of keeping the state doing what it’s already doing. No new programs. No expansions. No raises. Holding still costs $4 billion more than the state will have.

Every revenue forecast since has been revised downward, cutting roughly $2 billion combined across the current budget and the next. None of it has stopped.

Now the federal Medicaid changes arrive. H.R. 1, the 2025 federal budget law, adds work requirements, more frequent eligibility checks, and tighter rules on how states pay for Medicaid. Washington’s Health Care Authority said more than 620,000 Apple Health enrollees will face them. OFM estimates up to $1.3 billion a year in lost hospital reimbursements, plus hundreds of millions in lost state savings.

It hits in the same budget cycle as that $4 billion gap.

The millionaires’ tax, the new income tax on high earners that Democrats in Olympia passed this spring, doesn’t start collecting until 2029. A court challenge is pending. Initiative supporters are gathering signatures right now for a measure that would allow voters to reject the tax outright.

Ferguson announces Economic Development Council

Ferguson made the comments at the end of a news conference announcing a new Economic Development Council with 26 members.

T-Mobile and Uwajimaya will sit at the same table as part of an effort to shape a new economic strategy for Washington.

Denise Moriguchi, president and CEO of Uwajimaya, is among those on the council.

“We have an opportunity to ensure that Washington remains a place where businesses can put down roots, innovate, expand, and continue to thrive for decades,” she said.

The council includes leaders from business, labor, tribal governments and higher education.

Its economic plan is due in June 2027.

Contributing: Charlie Harger; Aaron Granillo, KIRO Newsradio

This story was originally published on mynorthwest.com.