OLYMPIA… Today’s adoption of the final state revenue forecast for 2025 means the next move in dealing with Olympia’s self-inflicted financial woes falls to Gov. Bob Ferguson, says Sen. Chris Gildon, Senate Republican budget leader.

Compared to the third-quarter projection from the state’s non-partisan chief economist, revenue is now expected to be down another $67 million going into the 2026 legislative session, which begins Jan. 12.

That puts the anticipated shortfall in the 2025-27 budget at a little over $100 million and the shortfall over the state’s four-year budget outlook at $1.3 billion.

The fourth quarterly forecast each year carries special significance because of its influence on the budget that by law must be proposed by the governor to legislators ahead of their next session. That proposal has been in the works since summer and is expected to become public in mid- to late-December.

Gildon, R-Puyallup, offered the following comments on the latest forecast, which he and other members of the state Economic and Revenue Forecast Council adopted the latest forecast this afternoon.

“Although this forecast doesn’t make the anticipated shortfall a whole lot deeper, there is no denying Olympia would be in a very different situation had the new state budget simply stayed within the available revenue, as the no-new-taxes ‘$ave Washington’ plan proposed by Senate Republicans proved we could.

“We already expect those in the Zohran Mamdani wing of the state’s Democrat majority will use this shortfall to justify their latest approach to a state income tax. They’ll also cite an old left-wing study claiming our state’s tax code ranks first or second nationally on the regressive scale rather than admit Washington is in fact in the middle of the pack, as this recent scholarly study indicates.

“The biggest question now, as we await Governor Ferguson’s first state budget proposal, is which side of him it will reflect. Will we see the governor who showed fortitude by acknowledging in his inaugural speech that living in Washington is unaffordable for many families, or the governor who only several months later signed off on the largest package of tax increases in state history?

“We understand Governor Ferguson will be under a lot of pressure to get behind phase two of Olympia’s Democratic Socialist tax-first agenda. But countless families across Washington are already under more pressure because of the sales-tax expansion and other tax hikes he supported earlier this year.

“This new forecast won’t force him to change course, so we will see in a matter of weeks whether he is on the side of taking even more money for government or standing with the families of our state, who have to live within their means. You can’t make living in Washington more affordable by making it more expensive.”