Rep. Travis Couture: A budget reset that works for Washingtonians
Washingtonians are paying more for just about everything. Groceries cost more. Housing costs more. Gas and child care cost more. Yet, state government continues to spend more while delivering fewer results. That path is unsustainable.
For four straight budgets, Washington has spent more than it was forecasted to collect. The result is another projected multibillion-dollar shortfall — one that was predictable and preventable. When that reality sets in, Democrats reach for the same solution every time: raise taxes.
That’s the wrong answer.
Washington is in a spending and accountability crisis
Washington does not have a revenue problem. It has a spending and accountability problem. Families are tightening their belts, but Olympia refuses to do the same. That is why I released A Budget for the Working Class — a no-new-taxes budget reset focused on restoring discipline, protecting core services, and forcing state government to live within its means.
This plan lays out a clear, workable path forward.
It identifies nearly $4 billion in savings over the four-year budget cycle through reductions, efficiencies, and the elimination of lower-priority spending. These savings do not reduce benefits, do not cut service delivery, and do not take a dollar from K-12 classrooms. At the same time, the plan restores funding for critical priorities that were cut or underfunded — including Medicaid services, food assistance for vulnerable Washingtonians, wildfire prevention, infant care for drug-exposed newborns, and law enforcement hiring.
Just as important as what this plan funds is how it changes the way Washington budgets.
Taking budgets off autopilot
For too long, state agencies have operated on autopilot, with funding rolling forward year after year and little scrutiny of results. Programs persist regardless of performance. Costs and bureaucracy grow without explanation. The public deserves better.
That’s why this plan adopts zero-based budgeting, requiring agencies to justify every dollar they spend instead of assuming last year’s budget is the baseline. Effective programs will stand on their merits. Ineffective, duplicative, or outdated programs will no longer be shielded by inertia.
To ensure that scrutiny is genuine, the plan is paired with independent third-party audits. Agencies will no longer be able to grade their own homework. Lawmakers and the public will have clear, objective information about what is working, what isn’t, and where tax dollars are being wasted. Accountability should be the rule, not the exception.
The plan also restores sensible spending limits tied to inflation and population growth — a proven guardrail Washington voters have supported before. These limits provide discipline, predictability, and protection against the kind of runaway budgeting that created today’s shortfall and tomorrow’s tax increases.
Budget accountability shouldn’t be political
This isn’t about ideology; it’s about math and priorities.
Washington can protect the most vulnerable, fund essential services, and plan responsibly for the future without raising taxes. But that requires prioritizing needs over wants, reforming broken practices, and demanding the same accountability from government that working families live with every day.
Washingtonians deserve a budget that works as hard as they do.
This plan shows how to get there and proves it can be done without new taxes.
Rep. Travis Couture (R-Allyn) represents the 35th Legislative District and is the ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Committee.
