Affordability is a top concern for families across the country. Folks are struggling with the costs of everything from groceries and utilities to medical care and housing — and Washington is no exception. Everyone who lives in our beautiful state should be able to afford these essential expenses without feeling strapped for cash at the end of every month. Tackling the affordability crisis is one of my main priorities, and I’m proud of the work we’ve done recently to make life more affordable for Washingtonians.
Lowering housing and utility costs
- Capping annual residential rent increases to protect tenants from sudden, life-altering rent spikes and make monthly housing costs more manageable (HB 1217).
- Expanding the Senior Citizen Property Tax Program to an additional 30,000 households, ensuring more seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities can stay in their homes (SB 6162).
- Establishing a statewide low-income energy assistance program to provide ongoing energy bill assistance, helping reduce the share of income families spend on utilities (HB 1903).
- Dedicating more than $800 million in our 2025-27 state capital budget to build affordable housing across Washington.
- Expanding Washington’s historic covenant homeownership program by offering down payment and closing cost assistance to first-time homebuyers from historically marginalized backgrounds harmed by exclusionary zoning (HB 1696).
Delivering tax relief for working families and small businesses
- Expanding the Working Families Tax Credit to help put more money back into the wallets of hard-working Washingtonians (SB 6346, HB 1297).
- Exempting about 70% of Washington’s small businesses from the Business & Occupation Tax (SB 6346).
Lowering health care costs
- Capping the cost of insulin at $35 and the total out-of-pocket cost for a 30-day supply of inhalers and epinephrine (SB 5729).
- Protecting people from being billed for emergency ambulance services beyond the costs covered by their health plans (SB 5986).
- Eliminate sales taxes on personal care products, all diapers, and many over-the-counter drugs (SB 6346).
- Eliminating out-of-pocket costs for people seeking abortion care (SB 5242).
- Requiring health plans to cover at least 14 days of inpatient substance use disorder treatment (SB 6228).
- Ensuring health plans continue to cover preventive services like vaccinations and well-child visits (HB 2242)
Making education and child care more affordable
- Providing free breakfast and lunch for all public-school students (SB 6346).
- Creating the Pre-K Promise Account to pay for up to 10,000 additional pre-kindergarten child care slots for the next 10 years (SB 5872)
- Setting aside tax proceeds for the Fair Start for Kids Act, which increases access to early learning programs and provides resources to support child care and early learning providers (SB 6346).
- Allowing community and technical colleges to grant tuition waivers to tribal elders starting at age 55 (SB 5110).
- Expanding access to the College Bound Scholarship to non-traditional students, including those with a high school equivalency like a GED (SB 5543).
- Investing $1 million in state’s 2025-27 budget to offset dual credit program exam fees for students from low-income families.