In the final hours of the 2026 legislative session, Washington state leaders offered starkly different assessments of what lawmakers accomplished. “The Impact” host Mike McClanahan spoke with several Democratic and Republican leaders on sine die to get their final take on the session.
Here’s what they said:
“The Legislature really met the moment. They made those investments at historic levels in housing and infrastructure. We adopted the millionaires tax and we’re balancing our budget in a way that I think will be responsible. So I think by any fair measure, this has been a very successful session.”
Senate Republican Leader John Braun (D-Centralia)
“They, just last night, passed arguably the most impactful bill in the last several decades, maybe in the last hundred years, putting an income tax bill in front of the governor to sign. It looks like he’ll sign it. I think the long-term impact to our economy and to our standard of living here in Washington will be negative and almost irreversible. We’ll see. There’s a few things that will have to play out. There will likely be a court challenge, and there may be an initiative, but I just think this is headed in absolutely the wrong direction for the state of Washington.”
Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen (D-Seattle)
“It was absolutely a success. You know, obviously in every session, you don’t get everything that you wanted, but I would say our number one priority was to pass the millionaire tax.
And we have done that, so that will help us with all of our main priorities this year. It helps right our budget and it also helps by creating some more affordability for working families in the state.”
Sen. John Lovick (D-Mill Creek)
“We worked very, very hard. We got some important stuff done. We worked, we just really did what I think the citizens want us to do, to lead with integrity.”
House Republican Leader Drew Stokesbary (R-Auburn)
“There was a number of bills the majority introduced throughout the session that would have made life even more expensive for struggling Washington families and would have made our communities less safe. I think we’re pretty proud as Republicans to have stopped a lot of those bills. But we still made — the Legislature passed — a lot of other troubling bills. Probably the biggest one is a state income tax.”
Rep. April Connors (R-Kennewick)
“There are a few wins, but I overall would not rate it as successful for businesses or residents in Washington, especially concerning affordability.”