Budget bills in WA Legislature would tap rainy day fund, spend heavily on legal payouts

By: Jake Goldstein-Street, Bill Lucia

Outlets: Washington State Standard

Published: February 23, 2026

Words: 1,952

Last Updated: 2 weeks, 4 days ago

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Democrats in the Washington Legislature on Sunday proposed tapping the state’s rainy day savings account and slashing hundreds of millions of dollars for a child care program for low-income families to balance the state’s budget into next year.

But under their plans, the state’s main operating account would have a more than $900 million deficit in the first year of the upcoming budget cycle, which begins July 1, 2027, before rising back into the black …

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