Washington voters have a clear message for state legislators: Make life more affordable.
Asked what lawmakers should focus on in the 2025 Legislative session, 34% of respondents to the latest Cascade PBS/Elway Poll said the economy was their top issue, with about a third of those citing the cost of living and inflation, another third citing housing affordability and the rest a mix of other economic concerns.
It’s the fourth year in a row that voters have told legislators to prioritize pocketbook issues. It’s little surprise, given the soaring costs of housing and child care and the impacts of pandemic-era inflation on just about everything we buy.
Voters are also concerned about public safety and taxes, which tied for second among poll respondents with 18% each. Homelessness was third on the voter’s priority list with 14% of respondents citing it as a top issue.
Leaders in both parties say they’ve heard voters loud and clear and have ideas for addressing those key issues when the new session kicks off on Jan. 13. But their ability to do so will be hampered by a projected budget deficit of at least $10 billion over the next four years.
The latest Cascade PBS/Elway Poll surveyed 403 registered voters across the state between Dec. 26 and 30, with a mix of cell phone, landline and online survey questions. It has a 5% margin of error at the 95% confidence level. That means that if the survey had been run 100 times, the results would be within five percentage points of these results in at least 95 of those scenarios.
In addition to their top priorities, voters were asked how they think the state government should deal with its budget deficit if legislators had to rely on only one tactic. Sixty-six percent of respondents said they preferred that the state make cuts to existing programs and services rather than increase taxes. Another 25% said legislators should raise taxes to avoid cuts, while 9% had no opinion.
Unsurprisingly, views on addressing the deficit were split on party lines, with 52% of Democrats saying they supported raising taxes compared to 6% of Republicans and 13% of Independents. When it comes to cutting programs, 91% of Republican respondents said they were in favor versus 75% of Independents and 40% of Democrats.
Make cuts, but also spend more
While poll respondents overwhelmingly said they’d rather see cuts to programs than an increase in taxes, similar majorities also supported increased spending when asked about specific program areas.
To help address the shortage of child care providers and in turn, they hope, reduce the cost, Fitzgibbon is excited about a bill that would allow competency-based certifications for child care providers.
On public safety, Corry wants to see more funding dedicated to helping local communities hire officers. Braun said he sees fairly broad agreement on the police funding issue, but thinks the Legislature also needs to figure out how to help rebuild the law enforcement profession to attract young people into the career.
Pedersen and Fitzgibbon also cited the need to address gun violence as part of broader public safety efforts. Fitzgibbon pointed to forthcoming bills that would limit purchases and transfers of firearms, implement new safe-storage requirements and require permits for firearm purchases.
Each lawmaker recognized that any progress on priority issues will be challenging without first addressing the looming budget deficit.
Democrats said they’re looking for places to cut in the budget and considering whether there are existing tax exemptions that could be eliminated. But both Pedersen and Fitzgibbon also expect the state will need to find new revenue to close the gap and continue funding the programs and services people demand.
As part of his final state budget proposal, outgoing Gov. Jay Inslee floated the idea of a new wealth tax on assets over $100 million that could raise more than $10 billion in the coming years. It would help the state largely maintain current spending levels and provide promised raises to state workers.
In the Cascade PBS Elway poll, respondents said that if the state does raise taxes, 57% of voters would prefer taxes on the wealthy, compared to 29% who said they prefer taxes on everyone, 3% who support taxes on businesses and 11% with no opinion.
Republicans oppose new taxes and want the state to find cuts to the existing budget and cap new spending. Braun argued that about half of the projected deficit is from new spending on programs and raises for state workers, and that without that increase, the state would be facing a much more manageable $5 billion deficit over the next four years. Inslee’s proposed budget would cost about $79 billion over two years.
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