Continued revenue reform is necessary to responsibly "reboot" Washington's budget: NPI's letter in The Seattle Times
Last edited Tue Jun 23, 2026, 02:36 PM - Edit history (1)
by Andrew Villeneuve
Earlier this month, The Seattle Times published an editorial calling for harmful austerity in the 2027–2029 Washington State operating budget, cheering Governor Bob Ferguson’s plans to propose big cuts and declaring: “Lawmakers have run out of creative accounting tactics. Cutting spending is the only way out of this mounting mess. Each state agency must order its priorities, with the most paramount programs preserved and nonnecessities subject to elimination. A complete budget reset is necessary.”
In response, I submitted a letter to the editor on behalf of our staff and board which asked what the “nonnecessities” are and briefly made the case for a better approach. Yesterday, The Seattle Times published that letter in its Sunday edition. We thank the editorial board for selecting our response to run on the opinion pages.
Here’s the letter:
State budget: ‘We must continue reforming our tax code’
Re: “WA state government needs a complete budget reboot” (June 10, Opinion):
The Seattle Times editorial board insists that Washington must cut “spending.” Yet in an entire editorial devoted to the state’s finances, it does not identify a single expenditure that should be reduced or eliminated. The Times says agencies should preserve “paramount programs” and eliminate “nonnecessities.” What are the “nonnecessities”?
We have three adopted budgets, totaling $193.7 billion in the current biennium. The capital and transportation budgets often pass with bipartisan support and newspapers’ approval. That leaves the operating budget, which mostly funds K‑12 schools (our constitutional paramount duty), higher education, healthcare, human services and corrections.
https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/editorials/wa-state-government-needs-a-complete-budget-reboot/