As the 2025 legislature begins, lawmakers will face a $10-12-billion-dollar shortfall over the next four years. The need for new revenue is urgent. In recent years, thousands of us have joined together to hold our legislators accountable for bringing justice to our tax code — the second-most regressive tax code in the country, ahead of only Florida — and funding our future.

Washington state agencies and lawmakers are already trying to address the budget deficit in their own ways. The Office of Fiscal Management has called for state agencies to submit proposed cuts, which could include hiring freezes, staff reductions, and program delays. Proposed cuts include reductions in housing assistance for those involved with child welfare services and for survivors of domestic violence, cuts to wildfire response planning and other emergency responses to communities hit with natural disasters, and cuts to child care assistance. The last time our state saw this level of budget shortfall was nearly 15 years ago in the wake of the Great Recession — but legislators cannot look to the past for guidance on how to get through this next challenge.

Last time, lawmakers chose to balance the budget at the expense of low-income Washingtonians, children, and people with disabilities. As a result, some programs are still struggling to recover their resources to fully address the needs across communities over a decade later. Our state chose to eliminate programs and decrease funds for children in K-12 schools, decrease funding for higher education, resulting in tuition hikes, and cut tens of thousands of people off the state’s basic health plan. Washington state lawmakers chose devastating cuts over passing more equitable and progressive revenue, but they have the perfect opportunity this session to right those wrongs. We cannot continue to cut our way out of a budget deficit. It’s proven inefficient and, at times, harmful to the health and well-being of our communities. Austerity budgets, which often center harsh economic policies, undermine the functioning of the public good, further erode community members’ trust in public programs and services. Instead, lawmakers must pass multiple progressive revenue solutions to fund the programs and services that help make Washington communities affordable and a desirable place to live.

At the Economic Opportunity Institute, our mission is to embed the values of fairness, care, and opportunity into the foundations of our state’s economy, creating the conditions for thriving and affordable communities across our state. In 2025, our legislative agenda reflects these values in the policies we will champion.

Fairness

Washington’s economy is working better for the rich and powerful than it is for everyone else. As housing, health care, and grocery costs skyrocket, income disparities and wealth inequality grow. This imbalance doesn’t just hold individuals back — it compromises the well-being of entire communities. As legislatures face looming decisions amid a colossal budget deficit, they must choose a different path. Giving in to austerity only fuels rising authoritarianism and oligarch influence that we cannot ignore. This is why EOI will advocate for several new progressive taxes, including a payroll tax on employers of high earners and a tax on the ultra-wealthy to fund programs that positively impact low- and middle-income households in the short term and help slow the growth of wealth inequality over time. We know what works: progressive taxes on the wealthy and large, profitable corporations. So, we support efforts to balance our tax code and increase corporate accountability.

Resisting austere approaches through our policy agenda will safeguard the critical programs and services for so many in our state. As everyone feels the impact of rising costs, working families and individuals cannot be left behind. Workers’ well-being is critical to an economy that works for all, so EOI will also advocate for an increase in the minimum wage and guaranteed paid leave for all workers. Finally, the Working Families Tax Credit plays a role in making Washington an affordable place for lower-income families — we must continue investing in and expanding this program.

Care

Our ability to care for ourselves and our loved ones is vital to thriving communities, but Washingtonians are being priced out of the care they need. No one can genuinely thrive or come out of survival mode without the ability to care for themselves. Yet too many families in our state face barriers to accessing essential care and support. Programs like Paid Family and Medical Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Days change lives, but with the incoming federal administration, the uncertainties and challenges our communities face will grow. We expect attacks on health care and other essential services. Without bold, progressive policy wins at the state level, our ability to care for ourselves and our loved ones will get even more difficult.

EOI will advocate for a suite of health care bills designed to defend against cuts, decrease costs, and improve access, including increasing transparency and oversight, advocating for fair prices in public- and school-employee health care plans, safeguarding and growing Cascade Care subsidies, and funding the Apple Health Expansion for immigrants program.

By embedding care into our economy, we’re creating a place where people can focus on what matters most: their health, families, and futures. Paid Family and Medical Leave shines as a model program for extended leave from work during life’s most challenging moments. We aim to ensure equitable access to Washington’s program so that everyone working across our state can access its benefits. In 2025, we will defend against cuts and advocate for several Paid Family and Medical Leave improvements, including closing the job protection loophole and increasing access to intermittent use.

Opportunity

The wealth gap continues to grow while the ultra-wealthy continue to benefit from systems designed to keep them ahead at the expense of a level economic playing field for everyone else. These inequities don’t just limit individual opportunity — they undercut the potential, stability, and well-being of entire communities. Opportunity is not about ambition — it’s about having the tools and security to pursue your dreams. Unfortunately, not everyone starts from the same place, and structural inequities hold too many Washingtonians back. If we make Washington multimillionaires and billionaires pay what they truly owe, we can fund many of the programs that working families rely on. And when we put cash back in the pockets of working families, we can all have what we need to thrive and create and maintain healthy communities.

EOI aims to increase real opportunities for those who have been and continue to be marginalized by systems that put a thumb on the scale for those with money and power. We will advocate for policies that fuel innovation, growth, and resilience and fight against those that diminish income and create wealth inequality. The Washington Future Fund — providing low-income young adults money to help pay for higher education, the downpayment for a home, or the seeding of a new business — would work to level the playing field for young people who don’t have family wealth to help them stabilize on their own. We will also advocate for policies to expand other opportunities for Washingtonians, including cost-free college and addressing medical debt. Less debt means better credit scores and more money in your pockets — both of which can open doors that help families and individuals overcome barriers to economic stability.

As we ring in the new year, let’s turn the page on old habits and face 2025’s challenges with fresh momentum and new ideas that will ensure the wealthiest in our state are paying what they owe back to their communities and that low- and middle-income Washingtonians have continued access to the programs and supports that make life affordable. Now, let’s get to it.

Follow EOI for updates this legislative session. Be the first to take action on bills we’re supporting by signing up for our newsletter, and save the date for FYI with EOI: Session Scoop, our mid-session virtual event where we’ll discuss all the happenings in Olympia after key legislative deadlines.