What… a budget that doesn’t raise taxes or cut services?

March 14, 2025

This week Senate Republicans came out with a budget proposal that would effectively erase state government’s budget shortfall while saving the people of our state from the harm of either huge tax increases or devastating spending cuts. That’s why we’re calling our plan the “$ave Washington” budget.

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

This report is going out a little later than I had hoped, but it has been a busier week than usual.

We spent most of Monday through Wednesday working on the floor of the Senate chamber, debating and voting on bills. The first round of “floor action” wrapped late Wednesday afternoon, on schedule, and starting yesterday the Senate committees are back at work, this time considering bills that were passed by the House.

In between everything else, we did something Tuesday morning that no one thought was possible: propose a new state operating budget that doesn’t raise taxes and doesn’t slash services.

It’s rare for the minority side to introduce a budget of its own, and almost unheard of for any budget proposal to be out this early in a legislative session.

But it was important to us to get this plan on the table for all to see, because our approach goes against what the people of Washington and the news media are hearing from majority Democrats. Their message is that state government’s budget shortfall is too big to overcome unless taxes are raised, because the alternative is to make devastating cuts to life-saving services. Our budget shows neither of those claims is true.

We probably won’t see budgets from either the Senate or House Democrats for the better part of two weeks. That means taxpayers, our Democratic colleagues and the news media have plenty of time to scrutinize our work, and see that this approach is for real. There is a better way!

The proof is all online: visit $aveWashington to see everything from the slide presentation to the balance sheet.

Here are some other links that may be of interest:

The takeaways from our budget are a) it’s affordable, b) it reflects the priorities of Washingtonians, and c) it includes efficiencies and reforms to make government work better.

I’ll be happy to go into more detail tomorrow morning at our town hall meeting. Hope to see you there!

Your Input Matters

I am committed to representing your interests effectively and I welcome your feedback and suggestions. You may contact me at:

It is an honor serving you and I look forward to your continued engagement and support!

Sincerely,

 

 

 

Sen. Chris Gildon, 25th Legislative District