(The Center Square) – Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson acknowledges the challenges that he and state lawmakers face regarding the 2026 supplemental budget due to slowing revenue growth, increased costs and reductions in federal funding.
“The revenue forecast that we received in June and more recently last month shows a shortfall of close to $2 billion for the next legislative session,” Ferguson said in responding to a question from The Center Square at his Thursday announcement from Enumclaw about the Friday reopening of the White River Bridge on State Route 410. “We have one more revenue forecast in December that I’ll get before I propose my supplemental budget.”
Ferguson said the coming cuts from the federal government will also impact Washington’s challenging budget situation.
“We have from the [federal] government dramatic cuts to Medicaid. That’s about $3 billion a year to SNAP benefits and others,” the governor said. “So, there’s huge challenges for us as a state.”
As previously reported by The Center Square, Republicans fired back at Ferguson for blaming the Trump administration for Medicaid funding cuts, stating that it was actually the last state budget the governor signed that reduced the funding.
“According to the nonpartisan Office of Program Research (OPR), the budget passed by Democrats and signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson in 2025 slashes over $782 million from Medicaid,” Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn, said in an August news release.
Senate Minority Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, echoed that pushback in a Friday interview with The Center Square.
“Nothing in the deficit this year or next year is related to federal government cuts or reductions at all,” Braun said, noting federal Medicaid cuts are coming in the future, but do not impact the state right now. “The numbers the governor uses are the most extreme numbers. He continues to paint it as much more extreme than it is and does not seem to recognize that these don’t go into place until, at the earliest, over a year, and then they go into place over the course of about five or six years.”
Ferguson said he’s required to craft a balanced supplemental budget proposal.
“And so, you’ll see a budget that’s thoughtful in that way. We’re going to see significant reductions in our budget,” the governor said. “There’s no other way to balance the budget than doing that, but I don’t want to give everything away before we propose the budget.”
The Center Square asked Ferguson if there will be an opportunity to work with Republicans who might have some ideas on how to close the budget gap without raising taxes.
“I can assure you, I hear on a regular basis from our Republican friends in the state Legislature during the last legislative session,” Ferguson said. “We held regular meetings, for example, with Sen. Braun and Rep. [Drew] Stokesbary throughout the legislative session. Those are common. Sen. Braun has my cell number. He calls me from time to time when he’s got thoughts about the budget. So, we’re in regular communication on both sides of the aisle.”
Braun, who is running for Congress, said Republican lawmakers met with the governor early in the 2025 session and were initially hopeful that some Republican proposals for a balanced budget without tax increases would be considered.
“He met with us, but he really didn’t incorporate anything, and at no point did we recommend the largest tax increase in our state’s history,” Braun noted. “Whether it will be different next year, I don’t know. I hope we’ll still be talking, and I hope this time that there will be more incorporation of Republican suggestions.”
Ferguson approved a $77.9 billion budget in May that included significant spending and billions in new taxes, despite earlier rhetoric about the state’s budget shortfall and the need for spending restraint.
Ferguson said he’ll offer his budget proposal in a couple of months.
“We had a big problem last year because of the path that the governor and the Democratic majority chose,” Braun continued. “I think it’s an even harder problem [next] year, but we will still be actively engaged, showing how we can deliver services to our state citizens without these enormous tax increases that the Democrats seem to be stuck on. Their continued tax-first policy has me very worried about what happens in the coming session.”
The 60-day 2026 legislative session begins Jan. 12.
