Washington's Republican legislators keep showing everyone that they are running on empty and unworthy of people's trust
Hey Republican legislators! Happy summer.
I see you’re once again calling for a suspension of Washington State’s Climate Commitment Act, this time through a special session to be held during the middle of election season, something you know perfectly well isn’t going to happen and would blow another really big fiscal hole in Washington’s budget if it did, at a time when we’re already facing the prospect of another revenue shortfall ahead of the 2027 session.
As you’ve been told, if CCA revenue goes away, even for a temporary period, we would have to redo the budget. It is that simple. There’s two sides to the fiscal equation, and you’re proposing to cut revenue without specifying what expenditures you would cut, or what alternative sources of revenue you’d turn to in order to compensate for the revenue we would be giving up with your proposal. That’s unacceptable. Washingtonians know pathetic political posturing when they see it, and that’s all this is.
You profess to be concerned about Washingtonians’ cost of living and high gas prices, and you even admit that the conflict with Iran is driving up prices. From your letter:
The U.S./Iran conflict had national gas prices surge to around $4.50/gallon, on average. The average price has now fallen below $4/gal. On July 1, it stood at $3.85/gal. According to aaa.com, the Washington state average for regular gasoline on July 1 was $5.125/gal. That is $1.27/gal higher than the national average. The driver of a mid-size to full-size SUV with an 18-gallon tank is forced to pay an average of $22.86 more in Washington at every fill-up.
https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2026/07/washingtons-republican-legislators-keep-showing-everyone-that-they-are-running-on-empty-and-unworthy-of-peoples-trust.html