Building an economy that works for everyone

As a leading research and advocacy organization, the Economic Opportunity Institute brings our commitment to progressive policy to the legislature. Since 1998, we have been in the fight for economic justice in the halls of Olympia, and we’ve won. The Paid Family & Medical Leave program gives workers across Washington support at their most vulnerable moments; Cascade Care gives people access to more affordable health care plans, and the Capital Gains Tax was a big step in fixing Washington’s upside-down tax code. 

Our legislative agenda this year reflect our commitment to preserving and strengthening essential state services that Washingtonians rely on, like affordable health care and education, and to lay the groundwork for the next decade with a major step towards a fairer tax code.

Time to celebrate!

After a record-breaking 25-hour floor debate, the Washington State House passed Senate Bill 6346, which creates a 9.9% tax on the very wealthiest households in our state – those earning over $1 million per year – to help fund vital programs, such as child care, health care, and education. This bill:

  • Expands the Working Families Tax Credit, allowing more than 1 million additional Washingtonians, including 352,000 children, to access a direct cash benefit of up to $1,330 per year;
  • Invests in child care and early learning through the Fair Start for Kids program;
  • Commits to funding free school meals for all K-12 students, saving families up to $1,200 per child annually; and
  • Eliminates sales tax on essential items such as diapers, certain over-the-counter medications, and personal care products.

The Millionaires Tax also creates the largest tax break for small businesses in Washington state history by eliminating B&O taxes for businesses with gross receipts under $250,000 and by doubling the B&O small business tax credit.

There are more than just revenue wins to celebrate! We can now better protect patients with enhanced oversight of private equity acquisitions with the passage of House Bill 2548. The legislature also passed two important technical fixes to help keep our state’s Paid Family & Medical Leave (PFML) Act strong. HB 2345 and SB 5292 both passed with nearly unanimous support in both chambers and will help protect the financial stability of our beloved PFML program and the workers and families who use it.

Where the legislature fell short

The legislature failed to provide any significant relief or protection to the 400,000+ Washingtonians who may lose health coverage in the coming years. This inaction comes at a time when destructive federal cuts to Medicaid and health care subsidies threaten the well-being of people across our state.

This is particularly devastating since revenue from the Millionaires Tax to bolster the health care safety net won’t be available until 2029. The legislature failed to pass:

  • SB 5993 and SB 6105, which would have helped protect consumers from financial ruin due to unaffordable medical bills;
  • SB 6105, which would have helped protect consumers from financial ruin due to unaffordable medical bills;
  • SB 5387, which would have sheltered clinical decision-making from the growing influence of private equity investors;
  • SB 6173, an effort EOI led with our patient and labor advocate partners to fund our state’s health care safety net by taxing large corporations that offload the health care costs for their low-wage workforce to Washington taxpayers; and
  • HB 2626, SB 5808, and HB 2487 — all of which would have generated desperately-needed revenue by taxing and regulating the thriving insurance industry to protect lower-income Washingtonians’ health care.

Beyond health care, the legislature also rolled back and avoided passing policies to generate progressive revenue before the Millionaires Tax goes into effect. Lawmakers undid the 2025 increases to the estate tax by passing SB 6347, providing a significant tax break to households with high-value estates that will cost the state $434.7 million over four years. The estate tax is one of only two progressive revenue tools that we currently have. The Well Washington Fund (HB 2100) also failed to advance. This bill would have generated $2 billion annually for health care, housing, and higher education by taxing certain large corporations with workers paid over $125,000 annually.

Read more reflections from our legislative director.

Together, we will fight for the things that make our communities powerful: strong public-school education, affordable and quality health care, efficient public transportation, and clean air.

Progressive Revenue

Our state budget supports everyday essentials that we all rely on and value. Yet, we have one of the most upside-down tax systems in the nation, where working people pay far more of their income in taxes than millionaires.

We’re struggling with overcrowded classrooms, skyrocketing health care costs, and funding cuts from Washington, D.C. Our tax code will better serve all Washingtonians and protect against cuts using popular, pragmatic progressive revenue solutions.

Millionaire’s Tax: Taxing incomes over $1 million at a rate of 9.9% will bring in roughly $3.7 billion in revenue each year to fund K-12 education, higher education, and health care. This tax affects only 22,000 households earning over $1 million in income each year and recaptures some of the tax cuts from H.R. 1, which provides the richest 1% with an average tax break of $90,850. This will rebalance our tax code and increase affordability by funding the needs of everyday Washingtonians.

Additional progressive revenue bills we’re supporting:

  • The Well Washington Fund (HB 2100) will bring in $5.5 billion every two years by enacting a 5% tax on employer payroll expenses above $125,000. This would only be paid by Washington’s largest 2% of businesses. This will not tax workers and will not increase taxes withheld on employees’ paychecks.
  • A Wealth Tax (SB 5797) will put approximately $3.0 billion directly into the state’s Education Legacy Trust every two years, ensuring public education for Washington children is well-funded by taxing publicly traded stocks and bonds above $50 million in value – affecting just 4,300 mega-millionaires and billionaires. This modest .5% tax on the top fraction of wealth in our state.
  • Adjusting Higher Education Funding (HB 2098) will generate about $2 billion in revenue for the Workforce Education and Investment Account (WEIA) by removing the cap on multi-billion-dollar corporations’ contributions to this specific account.

Health Care

High and unpredictable health care costs are forcing thousands of Washingtonians to go uninsured, skip treatment, and cut medication doses — and it’s only getting worse. Costs are far outpacing inflation, what people can afford, and what states can subsidize.

We are facing the loss of billions of dollars in federal health care funding over the next decade and over 450,000 Washingtonians will lose access to health care as a result of federal policy changes. We’re going to do something about it.

Apple Health Employer Assessment (SB 6173): Everyone should be able to access affordable health care, regardless of where they live or work. Washington is facing the loss of billions of dollars in federal funding over the next decade. Meanwhile, many of our state’s largest and most profitable corporations employ tens of thousands of workers who are enrolled in Medicaid. These corporations also benefit from federal tax breaks and rely on taxpayers to subsidize employee health care costs.

Senate Bill 6173 would establish a fee paid by corporations that would help ensure that wealthy firms contribute what they owe toward the health care costs of their employees, while protecting Washington’s health care system and promoting greater economic equity.

Corporate Practice of Medicine (SB 5387/HB 1657): The dangers of private equity influence on health care are well documented. Private equity hospital profiteering has resulted in dangerous conditions, closures, higher prices, and reduced access to services.

Senate Bill 5387 codifies corporate practice of medicine protections to keep patient health decisions in the hands of licensed clinicians rather than external financial investors. By prohibiting corporations from taking over medical practice decisions, this bill helps protect patients and doctors from corporate investor influence – like when private equity firms pressure clinics to maximize profits or cut corners.

Additional health care bills we’re supporting:

  • Health consolidation transparency will strengthen the Attorney General’s oversight of health care market consolidation by expanding review to include additional types of transactions, such as private equity acquisitions, and by adding transparency requirements to help ensure public awareness.
  • Stronger medical debt protections will keep families from exhausting their savings, skipping essentials like food, heat, and housing, and enduring aggressive collection practices to pay high medical bills.
  • The Cascade Care Savings premium assistance program helps over 100,000 Washingtonians afford health care coverage, but funding is set to expire in 2026. If funding is not renewed, thousands of people will likely drop coverage and suffer from unmet care needs.

Paid Leave

With over 1 million claims and $7 billion in benefits paid out to Washington workers since its inception in 2020, Paid Family & Medical Leave has become our state’s landmark social insurance program. This session, we will be supporting legislation that will help strengthen the implementation and administrative process to ensure workers across Washington can continue to take paid time off to recover from a serious illness or surgery, bond with a newly born or adopted child, or care for an ill family member.

Paid leave bills we’re supporting:

  • Modernizing PFML premium calculation (Senate Bill 5292) will help premiums stay current with best practices. Currently, the Paid Family & Medical Leave premium rate formula is calculated using past data, rather than using future projections.
  • An IRS fix (House Bill 2345) will preserve existing Paid Family & Medical Leave premium levels for employers and workers by updating the premium payment structure to comply with recent IRS guidance on the taxability of premium contributions.

Each year, our legislative agenda can include both bill and budget items. We prioritize bills that embed our values of fairness, care, and opportunity into Washington state’s economy. We utilize our research capacity, policy expertise, and coalition leadership to support thriving people and communities across the state. When we prioritize a bill, we are tracking it through every stage of the legislative process, leading coalition work, assisting with bill drafting, and responding to research requests.

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Previous Legislative Agendas