Budget battle begins in Olympia

OLYMPIA — With a $12-$16 billion budget shortfall hanging over the Legislature, House and Senate leaders and Gov. Bob Ferguson are offering different proposals to address the issue.

The 2026 legislative session opened Monday, Jan. 12.

Three panels of House and Senate leaders discussed the state’s transportation budget and general fund, while Ferguson renewed his support for a “millionaire tax.”

The proposal would tax high-earners’ incomes.

The biggest proposal to balance the budget is implementing the state’s first income tax since the 1930s.

“The focus of the millionaire’s tax is really to ad...