In giving his first State of the State address as the leader of the executive branch in Washington, Gov. Bob Ferguson appeared to embrace his role as a Democrat governor in a Democrat-controlled state, unifying his base with talk of tax reform and combating federal policies.
It was a far cry from his inaugural speech in 2025, when the new governor called for reforms made necessary by one-party rule.
Ferguson gave his first State of the State speech Tuesday morning in the Washington state House of Representatives after providing an inaugural address the year before.
The governor painted a rosy picture of the state despite recent budget troubles, boasting of a powerful economy, specialized industries and technological advancements in nuclear energy.
“The state of our state remains strong,” Ferguson said. “We have the ninth largest economy in the nation. We have a AAA bond rating. We dominate in space industry manufacturing. Washington is building the world's first commercial fusion power plant in Chelan County.”
The speech came on the second day of the state's 2026 60-day legislative session, which promises to be just as challenging as the previous year's gathering of lawmakers. Last year, Ferguson was welcomed to the new position with a massive projected budget shortfall estimated as high as $16 billion following the departure of three-term Gov. Jay Inslee. This year's session will seek to mount a more modest but still significant $2.3 billion predicted shortfall.
As he prepares to enter his second year in the governor’s mansion, Ferguson looked forward to 2026 more so than back at 2025, touching on flooding and natural disaster responses, the state's aging transportation infrastructure, and investments in affordable housing.
Unlike his inaugural address that saw him embrace some state Republican talking points, he leaned heavily into Democrat-led policy reforms.
He shared support for a tax on annual individual income over $1 million and for pairing the reform with rebates and tax breaks for middle and lower income residents. He advocated for a chunk of the profits going to the state's Working Families Tax Credit and also touched on a possible business and operation tax break for small businesses with less than $1 million in yearly revenue.
The governor also endorsed Senate Bill 5855 to ban law enforcement from wearing face coverings and require visible identification to be worn. He asked the bill's primary sponsor, state Sen. Javier Valdez, D-Seattle, to let him know how he could help pass the policy.
Ferguson returned to familiar territory from his time as the state's attorney general by emphasizing federal government overreach and committing to battling Trump administration policies, especially on immigration and vaccine and health care recommendations.
Condemnation of recent ICE activity in Minnesota and critiques of the federal government's recent changes to national health recommendations prompted standing ovations from Democrats. Republicans remained silent in their seats, one day after several of them walked out of a speech by House Speaker Laurie A. Jinkins that was highly critical of the Trump administration.
“We need to be direct about what is happening in our country and our state with ICE,” Ferguson said. “It's horrific, it's unjust and needs to stop now … As an American, I never thought I would see federal agents in masks jumping out of unmarked cars and grabbing people off our streets.”
Ferguson endorsed a suite of other proposed investments and bills during the speech. Investments he included in his proposed budget announced last month include $164 million for road paving this year and $756 million after that for paving projects over the next 10 years. He also touted a proposed $244 million for affordable housing.
Bill endorsements showed support for proposed policies that would expand free early learning program eligibility to military families, a bill to allow modular housing to meet building codes, expanding the definition of reckless driving, and providing air support for local fire departments fighting wildfires.
The governor took an optimistic tone and rallied support among his two chamber Democrat majority, but the romance ended there.
Republicans expressed only disappointment this year, despite a relatively positive response to the governor's inaugural address last year ahead of the 2025 legislative session.
“I guess we will never know which Bob Ferguson we're getting any day of the week,” House Minority Leader Drew Stokesbary said shortly after the State of the State address. “His State of the State speech last year was surprisingly well received by a lot of folks in my caucus, a lot of folks out in my communities … He had a lot of good lines talking about how that era of the government is over. Fast forward a year later, and he's singing a very different tune.”
In a press conference held after the speech for Republicans to respond to the governor's words, five lawmakers, including two representing Southwest Washington — state Sens. John Braun, R-Centralia, and Drew MacEwen, R-Shelton — made their displeasure clear. Stokesbary referred to the speech and responses by the audience as “muted” and called on it as a signal of displeasure with the governor's message.
The lawmakers generally recognized that the governor had properly identified the important issues, including affordability, transportation infrastructure and affordable housing. But aside from the use of Climate Commitment Act funds to shore up the state's Working Families Tax Credit program, they disagreed wholeheartedly on the governor's proposed solutions to the problems.
“It’s good to hear the governor mention affordability in his speech, but I would say he just fails to understand the nature of the problem,” Braun said. “This isn't something we're going to fix with more government involvement, more taxes and more regulation.”
The five Republican lawmakers in their response to the State of the State address hammered the governor over his support of what Democrats have labeled the “millionaires tax” and insisted it instead be referred to as an income tax.
“I’d ask the media to refer to it as an income tax, which is what it is,” MacEwen said.
Each of the lawmakers showed doubt that the tax could be passed, assuring members of the media that no Republican in either chamber would support any bill to pass an income tax or amend the state Constitution to allow non-uniform taxes. A constitutional amendment could relieve any legal challenges to an income tax exclusively on millionaires.
Lawmakers repeated their messaging on the policy that if an income tax were approved that it would eventually “trickle down” and expand to a universal income tax on all Washington residents.
“They might start there, but don't have any illusions that's where it's going to end if it's an income tax,” MacEwen said.
Republicans also pushed back against the governor's proposed use of the state's rainy day fund, advocated for more use of the state's Climate Commitment Act dollars. They also scolded the governor and Democrat lawmakers for weighing in on a recent ICE related shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The 60-day legislative session began Monday.
