Transcript Highlights:

• State retirees will increase from $280 to $390, and the public school retirees will increase from $200
• Just like any other funds where we have expenses that increase, if we don't have revenue that increases
• Revenue that increases that coincides with that expense increase, the fund is going to become, that fund
• We had an increase in for CY-2027 before. Contributions. We had an increase in for CY 2027.
• So that's a more moderate increase if we spread the increase over those three buckets.

Committee: All ALC-STATE INSURANCE PROGRAMS OVERSIGHT SUBCOMMITTEE

Summary: The committee reviewed several State Board of Finance actions related to employee and retiree health benefits, insurance contracts, and reserve funding. Members first considered a rule implementing Act 956 of 2025 requiring vendors working with the Employee Benefits Division to have their data validated by a third-party actuary; it was reviewed without objection. The committee then approved multiple pharmacy and medical formulary recommendations for June, July, and August, including shifting to lower-cost generics, excluding new-to-market drugs pending more evidence or better pricing, re-tiering specialty and limited-distribution drugs, and adjusting prior authorization, step therapy, and age restrictions. Members asked about how Navitus and EBRX develop recommendations, how rebates and coupons are tracked, and whether rebate incentives could influence coverage decisions. The committee also reviewed and approved a one-year Colonial Life accidental death and disability contract extension with level rates for 2026-2027, a one-year UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage extension that decouples medical and pharmacy benefits and raises premiums for state and public school retirees, and a new three-year financial auditing contract with Crow Chesnik after an RFQ produced only one response. The UnitedHealthcare renewal was described as the full extent of the increase for the year, with officials saying future increases are likely but should become more predictable. The committee then heard a presentation from Segal Group on public school plan funding and reserve adequacy, which projected that if funding stayed flat the reserve would be drawn down over time and could be exhausted by 2029. Segal presented scenarios showing that maintaining the target reserve would require substantial increases in the minimum district contribution alone, or more moderate increases if costs were spread across district, employee, and Department of Education funding. Members questioned the assumptions behind the projections, including why prescription drug claims were projected to grow 45 percent from an earlier forecast, why actual expenses had come in 17 percent above prior projections, and how federal changes, rising drug costs, and GLP-1 utilization might affect future costs. Several members raised concerns about the loss of wellness visit incentives, the need to control duplicate or inappropriate prescribing, and whether the target reserve level should be revisited. EBD said it is working on cost containment, wellness program redesign, and additional analysis, and indicated it expects to bring a funding and policy recommendation to the committee in September or October. The meeting ended with no further business and adjournment.

Transcript Highlights:

• a 0% increase, while someone with a 14% increase doesn't have that opportunity.
• One of those is the stacking of increases whereby one increase would be set to expire, and then they
• Just the tax increase proposals.
• It's only related to the tax increases. Okay.
• I agree with transparency of the increase...

Committee: House Special Committee on Property Tax Reform

Transcript Highlights:

• So that's where you'll see the increase of $198,000 for the lodging increase that was in Senate Bill
• So that's where you'll see the increase of $198,000 for the lodging increase that was in Senate Bill
• That is the 771,648, the cost to continue, and then the salary increases and health insurance increases
• The cost to continue, and then the salary increases and health insurance increases are right below that
• It's increased slightly.

Committee: House Appropriations - Government Operations Division

Summary: The House Appropriations Government Operations Division met to consider House amendments to Senate Bill 2001, the budget for the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly. Representative Meyer and Legislative Council staff reviewed the House changes, which included higher lodging funding tied to a prior bill, an increase for North Dakota legislators’ forum dues, a transfer of $290,000 for public printing from the Secretary of State to Legislative Council, a $650,000 reduction tied to the nuclear energy study because that funding was already provided elsewhere, and a new section allowing legislative space on the 15th floor of the Capitol to be used for additional Legislative Council employees. John Bjornson explained the 15th-floor space proposal and said staff would work with Facility Management and CTE to address relocation needs and timing, with CTE’s move potentially delayed until after its busy school-year period if necessary. The committee then reviewed the Senate version of the bill in more detail. Staff walked through the Legislative Assembly budget items, including per diem and compensation adjustments, lodging and mileage estimates, IT and audio/video funding, and dues increases for national and state legislative organizations. Members asked about mileage assumptions and the emergency clause, and staff said the emergency language is standard and allows flexibility for transfers, carryovers, and other budget actions. The committee also reviewed the Legislative Council budget, including funding for 25 new FTEs, interim travel, IT costs, professional services, public printing, and one-time items such as equipment and term limits consulting, while the advanced nuclear energy consulting item was removed in the House version. After discussion, the committee adopted the House amendment to Senate Bill 2001 and then voted to do pass the bill as amended. Both motions passed on roll call, and the amended bill was sent to the full Appropriations Committee. Near the end of the meeting, Representative Paula gave notice that she would bring a separate amendment later on the Industrial Commission budget related to homelessness grant funding, noting it would not use SIF or general fund dollars.

Transcript Highlights:

• Adequate increases.
• I would agree with my colleague." "...to increase it.
• As Representative Brown, are you saying to increase 2% in recurring?
• We're not giving them any increase at all.
• We're not giving them any increase at all.

Committee: House House Appropriations & Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• The increase is also requested due to increases in rent, interagency and IT costs, as well as insurance
• It was a slight increase only because, um, DFA had increased their fees and that was the only increase
• her contract and and for um to increase her contract and and increase<00:31:11.039><c> the</c><00:31
• </c> increase for your executive director? increase for your executive director?
• The increase &gt;&gt; I'm sorry.

Committee: Joint Appropriations

Transcript Highlights:

• So that increased revenue is a direct result of the increased work.
• So that increased revenue is a direct result of the increased work.
• So that increased revenue is a direct result of the increased work.
• So that increased revenue is a direct result of the increased work.
• Increased revenue is a direct result of the increased work.

Bills: HF1151 , HF1239 , HF1240 , HF2020 , HF2514 , HF2515 , HF2451

Committee: House State Government Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• When utilities request rate increases, they often lead to increased costs for consumers.
• As we know, we did not do the rate increase, but there have been replacement cost calculator increases
• What was y'all's replacement cost increase last year, even though there was no rate increase?
• However, due to this steep increase in our reinsurance costs and the absence of rate increases, we do
• What was your replacement cost increase last year, even though there was no rate increase?

Committee: Senate Business & Commerce

Transcript Highlights:

• And these 5% increases have really allowed increased enrollment, increased employee compensation, and
• And these 5% increases have really allowed increased enrollment, increased employee compensation, and
• That will obviously increase FTE.
• Even without a base increase, CSU's core funding would still increase by about 4.2%, largely due to increases
• This increase is also aligned with CSU's average base increases over the past 10 years.

Transcript Highlights:

• time, but with a $10 increase you're looking at a 10-cent increase at the pump.
• If we start to see that increase in production, increase in rig activity, it's...
• If we start to see that increase in production, increase in rig activity, it's setting us up for a good
• And you can see that they've increased, increased in the short term, but also the time frame over the
• So those prices will— That is increased demand, but there's no increase in supply.

Committee: House Natural Resources & Environment

Transcript Highlights:

• Last year we saw an increase in animal cruelty. We again see a year-over-year increase in that.
• And we're seeing an increase in that.
• That's a shocking increase, one of the biggest increases we see nationally in homicides around the country
• Vancouver saw a 31% increase, Marysville saw a 94% increase, and Lynnwood saw a 145% increase from 2019
• So this means that increasing staffing does not need to mean an increase in aggressive tactics to have

Committee: House Community Safety

Summary: The committee held a work session on crime trends and policing effectiveness, hearing from national and Washington-specific experts. Adam Gelb of the Council on Criminal Justice reviewed long-term national trends, noting that reported violent and property crime have fallen sharply since the early 1990s, while pandemic-era spikes in homicide, assaults, and auto theft have since eased. He also highlighted that juvenile arrests and residential placements have declined substantially over time, though juvenile homicide has risen, and he emphasized that racial disparities in imprisonment have narrowed, driven in part by reduced drug enforcement and arrest disparities. James McMahon of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs and Marshall Clement of the Council of State Governments’ Justice Center presented Washington data. They reported that 2024 crime in Washington declined overall from 2023, including drops in violent crime, property crime, murder, robbery, hate crimes, and vehicle theft, but remained above 2019 levels in many categories. They flagged domestic violence as making up about half of crimes against persons, noted rising animal cruelty and extortion, and said juvenile arrests and juvenile victimization remain a concern, with wide variation by city. Both speakers stressed that underreporting affects the data and that the state’s violent-crime solve rate remains low, with only 44% of violent crimes solved in 2024 and large numbers of unsolved homicides, assaults, rapes, and robberies over the prior three years. Jeff Asher of the Real Time Crime Index said 2025 national and Washington trends appear to be continuing downward, with murder falling sharply and likely reaching historic lows nationally. He said Washington’s sample data also shows substantial declines in murder, violent crime, and property crime in 2025, though the state sample is limited. In the second panel, Richard Hahn of the Niskanen Center and Mark Kropanski of Arnold Ventures argued that effective policing depends on strategic deployment, neighborhood disorder reduction, stronger investigations, and better data systems. They emphasized hotspots policing, problem-oriented policing, improved forensic capacity, and higher clearance rates as evidence-based ways to reduce crime and build trust. Marshall Clement closed by focusing on Washington’s declining violent-crime solve rate over decades and urged state leaders to prioritize investigative capacity and resources to improve clearance rates, especially in major agencies and counties with the lowest solve rates.

Transcript Highlights:

• This has increased from $612 per claim in 2020.
• also the increase in users.
• The last increase was in 2010, is what I believe.
• , the spending increases, and most importantly, the budget request increases of this body over the last
• , the spending increases, and most importantly, the budget requests increases of this body over the last

Summary: The Budget Committee met with a quorum and took up several bills. HB 677, relating to state-covered fertility preservation for employees undergoing cancer treatment, was introduced as coverage for egg and sperm preservation for up to three years, with an estimated fiscal impact of about $813,000. After brief questions and no public testimony or amendments, the bill passed unanimously and was reported favorably. The committee then considered CS/HB 59, which would reform Florida’s wrongful incarceration compensation process by extending the filing deadline from 90 days to two years, removing the clean-hands requirement, and allowing exonerees to choose between the state compensation process and a civil lawsuit; it was supported by the City of Flagler Beach and passed unanimously. CS/HB 1313, which recreates the Resilient Florida Trust Fund in the Department of Environmental Protection before its scheduled termination in 2025, also passed unanimously after supportive testimony from advocacy groups. The committee received a lengthy presentation from the Department of Management Services on the State Group Insurance Program and the recent Revenue Estimating Conference. The presentation covered enrollment, revenues and expenditures, rising medical and pharmacy costs, emergency room utilization, GLP-1 drug spending, and options for tighter formulary and utilization management. Members asked about ER cost growth, GLP-1 coverage and copays, PBM oversight and potential conflicts, avoidable ER visits, cancer screening claims, dental and vision costs, specialty drug biosimilars, and possible savings from more restrictive pharmacy models. DMS said it would follow up on several questions and noted ongoing work on cancer coordination, preventive screening, biomarker testing, and a proposed member-facing benefits platform. The committee also heard extensive testimony on HB 301, which would raise sovereign immunity caps from $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident to $1 million and $3 million, align limitations periods with private claims, and allow government entities to settle above the caps without a claims bill. Local governments, school-related entities, and county and city associations opposed the bill, warning of major fiscal impacts, higher insurance costs, and pressure on services; several speakers urged smaller increases or a tiered approach. Proponents, including families affected by catastrophic injury or death, argued the current caps are too low and the claims bill process is inefficient and unfair. After debate, the bill passed on a recorded vote, with some members voting no, and was reported favorably.

Transcript Highlights:

• Costs have increased substantially.
• What are we doing to prevent further increases?
• The second adjustment is an increase of $4.6 million federal funds due to an estimated increase in federal
• Therefore, California's share has also increased.
• Because every year that increase, that cost of doing business increases.

Transcript Highlights:

• Costs have increased substantially.
• The second adjustment is an increase of $4.6 million federal funds due to an estimated increase in federal
• Therefore, California's share has also increased.
• Because every year that increase, that cost of doing business increases.
• Because every year that increase, that cost of doing business increases.

Summary: The committee heard a series of budget and oversight presentations from CalHHS-related departments and agencies. CalHHS opened with a broad overview of its 2026-27 budget and priorities, including behavioral health, housing and human services integration, children and youth services, and aging/disability supports. OICR then presented its budget and its SB 823 realignment report on youth formerly committed to DJJ, saying county implementation varies widely but that the state has not seen evidence of net widening in the available data. OICR recommended climate surveys, youth advisory councils, stronger behavioral health and education programming in secure youth treatment facilities, better transitional planning, and improved longitudinal data systems. The agency also described a Title II federal grant transition problem, saying it cannot yet pay some subrecipients for prior work and is awaiting federal action on retroactive spending authority and an administrative funding adjustment. The Ombudsperson division requested two additional positions to address a growing complaint workload and access issues with counties over youth meetings, records, and grievance files; LAO raised no policy objection but noted the ongoing General Fund cost. The State Council on Developmental Disabilities requested $730,000 General Fund ongoing to cover the gap between federal limits on administrative overhead and the actual cost of an interagency agreement with the Department of Social Services. EMSA presented its department overview and several proposals, including a delayed AB 716 ambulance rate report, a $2.6 million request to replace aging disaster-response vehicles, a $250,000 security architecture assessment, and four positions plus ongoing General Fund for HR, enforcement, and legal workload. Members questioned the delay in the AB 716 report, the optics and timing of the vehicle replacement request, and whether EMSA was doing enough to prevent future staffing and enforcement problems. LAO repeatedly noted the ongoing General Fund implications of EMSA’s requests. The Department of Community Services and Development sought reappropriation of unspent Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund money for the Low-Income Weatherization Program and described a Proposition 4-funded continuation of the farmworker housing component, which would require a new statewide administrator and program design process. The Department of Rehabilitation requested authority to draw an additional $60 million in federal funds annually and add 54 positions to meet sharply increased Vocational Rehabilitation caseloads; LAO had no concerns. Child Support Services proposed restoring a prior reduction to local child support agency funding and reported higher federal performance incentives, while also presenting a supplemental report on full pass-through of child support collections to CalWORKs families, estimating about $150 million annually for full pass-through or about $80 million for a state/county-only approach, plus automation costs. Members questioned why funding should rise when caseloads are declining, and whether the policy could be made cost-neutral. CDPH closed the hearing with an overview of its $5.1 billion budget and its state of public health report, highlighting record-low mortality and higher life expectancy, but also rising overdose deaths among ages 25-44, persistent maternal and infant mortality disparities, and the need for stable public health and emergency-response capacity; no votes were taken during the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• per-case-load cost increases.
• per-case-load cost increases.
• would be increases or decreases to revenue, or resources, such as revenue, increased taxes, a new tax
• , like projected step increases or I guess like the cost of health, like the increased cost of health
• Like when we know there will be increases, but it's beyond the forecast?

Committee: Joint Joint Legislative-Executive Committee on Budget Transparency and Fiscal Sustainability

Summary: The committee held its first meeting, with co-chairs and members introducing themselves and staff outlining the committee’s statutory charge under the 2026 supplemental operating budget. Staff explained that the committee is tasked with studying budget transparency and fiscal sustainability in two phases: first, revenue growth, spending assumptions, statutory cost drivers, and carryforward/maintenance levels; and later, staffing, overhead, performance management, and public reporting tools. The committee also discussed its goals, with members emphasizing a shared factual understanding of Washington’s fiscal situation, the causes of projected structural deficits, and possible paths to a more sustainable operating budget. Staff then gave a detailed operating budget basics presentation. They reviewed the size and composition of the operating budget, explaining that most spending is concentrated in grants and client services, salaries and benefits, and goods and services, with K-12 education, DSHS, the Health Care Authority, DCYF, corrections, and higher education making up most NGFO spending. They also walked through the distinction between constitutional, federal, statutory, and discretionary spending; the role of caseload and per-capita forecasts; how maintenance level and policy level budgets are built; and how the four-year outlook works, including revenue forecasts, reversions, budget stabilization account reserves, and the official outlook adoption process. Members asked several questions about what is or is not included in the outlook, especially future collective bargaining agreements, health care inflation, court-ordered liabilities, and whether the budget could better separate mandatory from discretionary spending over time. Staff said some of those questions would require follow-up and noted the existence of an outlook accuracy report. The committee then heard from Josh Goodman of the Pew Charitable Trusts, who introduced Pew’s state fiscal work and its role as the nonprofit partner supporting the committee. He said Pew would help analyze long-term fiscal sustainability, reserve policies, recession preparedness, and practices from other states, and would draw on its 50-state data and subject-matter experts. No votes were taken and no formal actions were reported at this meeting.

Transcript Highlights:

• per-case-load cost increases.
• per-case-load cost increases.
• would be increases or decreases to revenue, or resources such as revenue, increased taxes, a new tax
• , like projected step increases, or, I guess, like the cost of health, like the increased cost of health
• , like projected step increases or I guess like the cost of health, like the increased cost of health

Committee: Joint Joint Legislative-Executive Committee on Budget Transparency and Fiscal Sustainability

Transcript Highlights:

• They raided our rainy day fund, and just generally increasing to a $2 billion tax increase after coming
• , you know, or $2 billion budget increase after coming into the largest tax increase in Washington state
• There's still gas tax increases.
• increase the cost of living.
• I mean, it's not just the tax increases.

Summary: Senate and House Republican leaders held a media availability in Olympia as the 2026 session entered its final full week, focusing heavily on affordability, taxes, and the state operating budget. Senators Braun and Gildon, along with House Republicans Connors and Abbarno, criticized the House and Senate budget proposals as spending billions more than forecast revenue, relying on one-time money, the rainy day fund, and what they called unrealistic assumptions. They argued the budgets would worsen a future deficit and said Democrats were prioritizing special interests over fiscal restraint. A major topic was the proposed income tax on high earners, which Republicans said would likely expand over time and drive businesses and wealthy residents out of Washington. They also discussed other tax proposals they said would hurt affordability, including changes affecting data centers, nicotine products, prescription drug warehousing, retail bags, and bottles. House Republicans said they were working with some Democrats to oppose the income tax and urged the governor to veto it if it reaches his desk. They also said the budget process has excluded Republican input and relied on closed-door negotiations. Republicans also raised several policy issues they said were stalled or killed this session, including juvenile rehabilitation reform, child endangerment and fatality reporting, tort reform, and housing and energy policy. They criticized the House for not advancing measures they said would help with child safety, juvenile justice, housing supply, and energy diversity, and they opposed a data center tax/clawback bill they said could discourage investment and jobs, especially in rural communities. In response to questions, Braun said he planned to raise the income tax, the budget, juvenile rehabilitation, child endangerment, and tort reform in an upcoming meeting with the governor. No votes were taken during the availability.

Transcript Highlights:

• This represents a 60% fee increase, or a $15 increase.
• They are needing a slight fee increase just because they now have online licensing software. ...increase
• And when DOPL came together in 2020, there were boards wanting to increase fees then, wanting to increase
• Of course, nobody likes to see a 100% increase in a fee like we're seeing here.
• We are, so this fee rule increases fees 100 to 150 percent.

Committee: Senate Health and Welfare

Transcript Highlights:

• that increase in the revenue was going to be.
• to the increases in fees when it comes to just the cost of business. Senator Mesnar. Mr.
• It limits the ability of the government to increase fees by executive fiat.
• And if we're increasing taxes in government or we're increasing fees in government, the elected officials
• It increases money for education, period, end of story. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Bills: SB1142 , SCR1028

Committees: House Ways & Means , House House Ways & Means Committee of Reference

Keywords: scholarships, tax credit, education funding, nonprofit organizations, Arizona Revised Statutes, constitutional amendment, state revenue, tax policy, legislative approval, two-thirds vote

Transcript Highlights:

• The increased homestead exemption amount is a 40% increase in the existing homestead... exemption of
• The increase to $140,000 will increase...
• Approved increases to the Homestead exemption.
• The city of Austin increased their...
• Increased rates or by the appraisal caps going up.

Bills: SB4 , SJR2 , SB 4 , SJR 2

Committee: Senate Local Government

Transcript Highlights:

• So we are looking to see some increased sales, which causes increased vendor costs.
• So we are looking to see some increased sales, which causes increased vendor costs.
• This is a utility increase.
• utility increase of $2.4 million.
• A portion of this increase is based on the increase in the offender population.

Committee: House Budget