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Local senators say new state capital budget funds Odessa water project

The new two-year state capital budget passed unanimously by the Legislature today includes funding for key water-infrastructure projects throughout eastern Washington, including some benefiting the Columbia Basin, according to 9th District Sen. Mark Schoesler and 13th District Sen. Judy Warnick.

The capital budget provides $69 million for the Columbia River Water Supply Development Program, of which $44 million is for the Odessa Groundwater Replacement Program, also known as the “EL 22.1 Project.”

It aims to provide surface water to deep-well irrigators and farmers in the declining Odessa Aquifer Subarea north of Interstate 90 and east of Moses Lake. The capital-budget money will help pay for completing the Odessa aquifer recharge for Othello, which will help store more water in the aquifer.

“This capital budget is a big win for water-infrastructure needs in the Columbia Basin and other parts of eastern Washington,” said Schoesler, R-Ritzville and Republican leader on the Senate capital budget. “The EL 22.1 Project is extremely important for this region, especially agriculture. Three generations of farmers in the Columbia Basin are still waiting for irrigated water. Thanks to the funding in this capital budget, these farmers won’t have to wait much longer.

“Securing this funding has been a major priority for our region,” said Warnick, R-Moses Lake. “The Odessa aquifer has been in serious decline for years, and farmers have been anxiously waiting for relief. This project will bring critical water resources to help sustain agriculture and our local communities for generations to come.”

The Odessa water project also will receive $40 million in matching funds from area growers, said Schoesler and Warnick. The senators noted that the long-awaited project will bring water to 17,000 acres in the area and will take 36 irrigation wells offline.

“With this capital budget funding and the matching money from growers, this project is ready to start,” Warnick said. 

Warnick had an essential role in “letting other legislators know how important the Odessa water project is and helping to ensure it received the needed funding,” added Schoesler.

Schoesler and Warnick pointed out that 42 groups, nearly all of them in the Columbia Basin, wrote letters in recent weeks expressing support for funding of the EL 22.1 Project. They included Grant County commissioners, Adams County commissioners, Washington Farm Bureau, Washington Association of Wheat Growers, Grant County Economic Development Council, Adams County Development Council, City of Moses Lake, Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce, City of Othello, Grant County Public Utility District, Port of Moses Lake, Port of Warden, Port of Othello, Town of Odessa, Town of Lind, City of Harrington, Big Bend Community College, Lincoln County Economic Development Council, Inland Northwest Partners, AgWest Farm Credit, Columbia Basin Railroad and EL-22.1 Landowner Association.

The new capital budget also provides $52 million for the Yakima River Basin Water Supply Program and $8.5 million for the Yakima-Tieton Canal to start fixing damage caused by a wildfire.

Construction and maintenance of state buildings, public-school matching grants, higher-education facilities, public lands, parks, water infrastructure and other assets all are funded by the capital budget.

“This final version of the capital budget helps pay for projects across the entire state. It lives within our means while doing a good job of addressing needs throughout Washington,” said Schoesler. “Many K-12 education projects are funded. It strongly funds fish hatcheries and also is a good budget for water projects, as well as housing and other needs. Our capital budget has something for every part of our state.”

Legislature approves two-year capital budget ‘for the entire state’

On the final day of its 2025 session, the Legislature approved the 2025-27 state capital budget, with the two Senate Republicans who helped develop this budget praising it for addressing needs throughout Washington.

“I’m pleased that the capital budget passed by the Legislature addresses many needs throughout the state,” said 9th District Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, the lead Republican for the Senate capital budget. “Realizing there were limited resources to pay for the capital budget, we made tough decisions every step of the way, working on priorities that satisfied both our side and the Democrats.

“I’m also pleased this budget leaves healthier reserves than is often the case going into the second year of a biennium. That’s important for addressing unforeseen problems next year.”

“The Republicans and Democrats on the Senate capital-budget team are on the same page – but our House counterparts have their own priorities, so there was a fair amount of pushing and pulling to get to a final product,” said Sen. Perry Dozier, R-Waitsburg, assistant Republican leader for the capital budget.

“I’m proud of how we held firm on the things the Senate views as most important, which include investments that will be seen in all four corners of the state. Education and behavioral health are priorities in rural Washington as much as anywhere in our state, and that is reflected here. It’s a solid budget, and deserving of the strong bipartisan support it received today.”

The new two-year state capital budget has a total price tag of $7.6 billion, with an ending-fund balance of $349 million. The Senate passed the capital budget 47-0 and the House approved it 98-0. It now goes to Gov. Bob Ferguson for his consideration.

It includes $975 million for K-12 education and early-learning projects, including $430 million for the School Construction Assistance Program. There is $202 million for Small District and Tribal School Modernization construction and planning grants, which will fund 40 additional small-school construction projects.

Another $151 million is provided for additional school seismic-safety grants, plus $6 million for the new school security and preparedness infrastructure grants program. The budget includes $5.15 million for CASE/Ag Science in Schools grants.

The capital budget spends $781 million on numerous housing programs.

Schoesler and Dozier, both farmers, noted the state’s fairs benefit from this budget, which allocates a record-high $9 million for competitive grants to agricultural fairs for health- and safety-improvement projects.

The new capital budget also provides plenty of money for water-related needs on both sides of the Cascades, with robust funding for eastern Washington water-infrastructure programs. Those appropriations include $69 million for the Columbia River Water Supply Development Program, of which $44 million goes to the Odessa Groundwater Replacement Program, plus $52 million for the Yakima River Basin Water Supply Program and $8.5 million for the Yakima-Tieton Canal to start fixing damage to a wildfire.

In western Washington, $75 million is provided to fully fund the Chehalis River Basin Strategy, which includes flood control and salmon recovery.

The budget includes a record $75 million for 13 fish hatcheries statewide.

A total of $1.2 billion is allocated for projects at Washington’s four-year universities and other higher-education institutions. They include:

  • Washington State University: $25 million for the Sciences Building, plus money for preventive facility maintenance and building-system repairs.
  • Central Washington University: $12 million for the emergency backup power system, $11 million for the university’s Humanities and Social Science Complex, and $10 million for an expansion of CWU’s aviation-degree program.
  • Eastern Washington University: $10 million for the dental-therapy lab, as well as funding for facility-preservation projects.
  • The state’s community and technical college system receives $434 million for various projects.

Schoesler opposes Democrats’ first wave of tax increases

State Sen. Mark Schoesler and other Senate Republicans voted against three tax increases that were supported Saturday by majority Senate Democrats as the 2025 legislative session approaches its scheduled end.

“Unfortunately, this is shaping up as the year of taxes in Washington,” said Schoesler, R-Ritzville. “These three proposals, combined with another wave of tax measures that is still on the Democrats’ schedule for the days left in our session, will make up the largest package of tax increases in our state’s history. This comes at a time when so many hard-working Washingtonians are struggling with inflation and higher prices in so many areas. These tax hikes will hurt people, not help them.”

Schoesler, who serves the 9th Legislative District, said Democratic majorities in the Senate and House should focus on reining in spending instead of increasing taxes.

“Washington does not have a revenue problem. It has a spending problem because Democrats over the years have insisted on taking more and more money from taxpayers instead of restraining themselves with the state budget,” said Schoesler, a longtime member of the budget-writing Senate Ways and Means Committee. “The budget-shortfall problem facing the state was caused by overspending. It only makes sense that Democrats should fix the problem that they caused by reducing spending, not raising taxes.”

Schoesler said Senate Republicans’ “$ave Washington” budget proposal would fund essential services without the need to raise taxes or create new taxes.

“We have a budget plan that can allow the Legislature to avoid raising taxes and hurting families, our economy and jobs. It’s up to the Democrats to utilize it or stubbornly ignore it,” said Schoesler.

Senate Bill 5814 would impose a sales-tax increase on certain services, including computing and IT services, temporary staffing and security services. It also would tax synthetic nicotine products, such as Zyn, as tobacco products. The proposal is expected to collect about $2.1 billion a year in new sales-tax revenue. The Senate passed SB 5814 on a 27-22 vote, with three Democrats joining the 19 Republicans in voting “no.”

“This regressive sales-tax hike will cause people at every income level to pay more,” said Schoesler.

Senate Bill 5794 would impose a business-and-occupation tax on self-storage rentals and increase taxes on many other unrelated business activities. It was approved by the Senate 26-22.

“Imposing a B&O tax on self-storage rentals means that those renting these spaces will have to pay the higher costs because the storage-rental owners will just pass along the tax to their customers. This proposal will especially affect lower-income people who need to rent these storage spaces,” said Schoesler. “Each of the tax increases in this bill is going to trickle down to consumers one way or another.”

Senate Bill 5813 would increase the capital-gains tax and estate tax. The current capital-gains tax is 7% on gains over $250,000. SB 5813 would raise this tax rate to 9.9% on gains over $1 million. The only states with a higher maximum rate are California, New Jersey and New York, plus the District of Columbia. SB 5813 also would increase the estate-tax threshold from $2.2 million to $3 million, and its maximum rate would be increased from 20% to 35%. The Senate passed SB 5813 on a 27-21 vote.

“Capital-gains taxes are volatile thanks to the uncertainty of the stock market. We should not rely on a volatile revenue source like a capital-gains tax to support our state’s paramount duty, which is funding K-12 education,” said Schoesler.

The 2025 legislative session is scheduled to end April 27.

Senate unanimously approves capital budget ‘for the entire state’

The Senate today unanimously approved its version of the 2025-27 state capital budget, with the Republicans who helped develop the spending plan praising it for addressing needs throughout Washington.

“What we have is a capital budget for the entire state,” said 9th District Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, the lead Republican for the Senate capital budget. “We looked at this budget and saw fewer resources, so we made tougher decisions every step of the way, working on priorities that made both our side and our Democrat counterparts happy.

“This budget also leaves healthier reserves than we often have going into the second year of a biennium. When we come back next year, we can address unforeseen problems with those reserves.”

Schoesler’s full remarks prior to today’s vote may be viewed here.

“I’m really pleased with how well the Senate capital budget addresses needs throughout Washington,” said Sen. Perry Dozier, R-Waitsburg. He became assistant Republican leader on the capital-budget team this year, bringing government-budgeting experience from two terms as a Walla Walla County commissioner.

“We all made sure there is a lot of support for K-12 education, which is our state’s paramount duty, but this particular budget is also good for things like water projects, housing and fish hatcheries. That makes sense, if you look at the mix of backgrounds and priorities of the four senators who crafted it. I’m also glad we made progress on addressing some long-standing concerns about support for public-works projects.

“The capital budget has a reputation for being the most bipartisan of the three state budgets, and now I know why. We placed a lot of trust in one another in the course of developing this – each of us tried to be responsive to what the others brought to the table. That shows through in the budget itself and today’s unanimous vote.”

The Senate capital budget has a total price tag of $7.3 billion, with an ending-fund balance of $222 million.

It features $1 billion for K-12 education and early-learning projects, including $563 million for the School Construction Assistance Program. There is $201 million for Small District and Tribal School Modernization construction and planning grants, which will fund 40 additional small-school construction projects. Another $143 million is provided for additional school seismic-safety grants, plus $12 million for the new school security and preparedness infrastructure grants program.

The Senate capital budget spends $770 million on a variety of housing programs.

Schoesler and Dozier, both farmers, noted the state’s fairs benefit from this budget, which allocates a record $12 million for competitive grants to agricultural fairs for access- and safety-improvement projects.

The Senate capital budget also provides plenty of money for water-related needs on both sides of the Cascades, with robust funding for eastern Washington water-infrastructure programs. Those appropriations include $69 million for the Columbia River Water Supply Development Program, of which $44 million goes to the Odessa Groundwater Replacement Program, plus $53 million for the Yakima River Basin Water Supply Program and $13 million for the Yakima-Tieton Canal to start fixing damage to a wildfire.

In western Washington, $80 million is provided to fully fund the Chehalis River Basin Strategy, which includes flood control and salmon recovery.

There is also $85 million in the two-year plan for 15 fish hatcheries statewide – another record.

A total of $1.2 billion is allocated for projects at Washington’s four-year universities and other higher-education institutions. They include:

  • University of Washington: $40.8 million for Anderson Hall renovation.
  • Washington State University: $25 million for the Sciences Building, plus money for preventive facility maintenance and building-system repairs.
  • Central Washington University: $12 million for the emergency backup power system, $11 million for the university’s Humanities and Social Science Complex, and $10 million for an expansion of CWU’s aviation-degree program.
  • Eastern Washington University: $10 million for the dental-therapy lab, as well as funding for facility-preservation projects.
  • The state’s community and technical college system receives $400 million for various projects.

Once the House of Representatives passes its capital budget, budget writers from the Senate and House will meet as a “conference committee” to hammer out a compromise capital budget for both chambers to consider.

The 2025 legislative session is scheduled to end April 27.

2025 session week 12 update

Schoesler impressed by opposition to property-tax increase bill

This is no April Fools’ Day joke: A proposal introduced by Senate Democrats that would significantly raise property taxes in Washington saw more than 43,000 people sign in to oppose it, more than four times the opposition received for any previous bill to receive a public hearing in the Senate.

Senate Bill 5798 would eliminate the 1% cap on annual property-tax increases by state and local governments without requiring voter approval. Future rate increases would be tied to inflation and population growth, potentially raising property taxes by 8% to 9% annually.

Sen. Mark Schoesler, who as a member of the Senate Ways and Means Committee sat through Monday’s public hearing on SB 5798, said the record number of people reaching out to the Senate to express opposition to the measure is a crystal-clear sign from the public that it strongly opposes efforts to raise property taxes. The video of the public hearing on SB 5798 can be viewed here.

“Throughout this session, the strongest opposition that my office has received on any tax-increase legislation has been on bills to raise property taxes, especially the bill we heard in Ways and Means Monday night,” said Schoesler, R-Ritzville. “I already knew how unpopular it would be to raise property taxes. But the hearing on SB 5798 was very historic when you realize that over 43,000 people – which is greater than Martin Stadium’s seating capacity at WSU and almost would fill up T-Mobile Park in Seattle – signed up to say they are against this terrible bill.”

Despite the record-shattering public opposition, Democrats on the committee are expected to pass SB 5978 during its meeting on Thursday. If that happens, the proposal will advance to the Senate Rules Committee, the final hurdle before SB 5798 can reach the Senate floor for a full vote.

“Not a single constituent in my 9th Legislative District has told me they support this bill. In fact, everyone I’ve talked to about this bill has clearly said they don’t want to have more taxes on their home. It’s really disappointing the Democrats on the Ways and Means Committee don’t seem to respect the public’s wishes by killing this bill. When over 43,000 people take time to tell committee members they oppose a certain bill, you’d think those members would listen and think twice about passing it. Unfortunately, the Democrats’ overzealous desire and commitment to squeeze more money out of hard-working Washingtonians knows no bounds,” said Schoesler.

Schoesler blasts Senate operating budget for out-of-control spending, record-setting taxes

The new two-year state operating-budget proposal passed by Senate Democrats today needlessly increases spending and raises taxes by a record amount, says Sen. Mark Schoesler.

The Senate’s operating budget was passed 28-21, with Schoesler and all other Republicans and two Democrats voting against it.

The Senate Democrats’ operating budget has a total price tag of $78.6 billion, a 9% spending increase over the current two-year budget.

“There are two main problems with the Senate Democrats’ operating budget: It raises taxes and overspends, despite the state facing a budget shortfall of more than $6 billion,” said Schoesler, R-Ritzville. “In fact, their budget adds an obscenely large amount – $12.1 billion – in new policy spending. At a time when state government should live within the existing revenue, Democrats again are insisting on unsustainable spending, putting our state on a path that eventually could hurt the vulnerable. It even spends nearly all of the state’s rainy-day fund, which is risky in itself since that money is meant for true budget emergencies, not to cover the Democrats’ unending desire to grow government, at the expense of hard-working Washingtonians.”

Schoesler points out the Senate Democrats’ operating budget would impose over $21 billion in new or higher taxes, including a hike in the amount state and local governments can raise property-tax rates annually without voter approval.

“Keep in mind Democrats last year planned to triple the allowable growth rate for property taxes to 3% annually, from 1%, but they backed off due to strong public opposition. The Senate Ds’ new plan would eliminate any cap. You and other property owners could face annual property-tax increases of 8% or higher. Such a large hike in property taxes year after year could force many homeowners and renters out of their homes at a time when housing is already a challenge for many in Washington,” said Schoesler.

On top of their proposed tax hikes, Senate Democrats want to increase fees that would hit many families. They have proposed raising tuition by $3,000 a year per family, which flies in the face of the tuition freeze that the Senate Majority Coalition Caucus (Republicans plus two Democrats) achieved many years ago, as well as eliminating financial aid for about 17,000 students. Democrats also want to double long-term care fees, adding $90 million in costs that will be passed on to Washington residents who pay privately for long-term care insurance, which makes the WA Cares program even more costly.

During debate on the operating budget, Republicans tried to pass a floor amendment that would have replaced the Democrats’ operating budget with the Republican budget proposal, which would not require any tax increases while maintaining spending levels for essential state services.

“Our Republican plan avoids the false argument that you either have to significantly raise taxes or drastically reduce spending to balance the state operating budget. Our plan offers a sensible third way to address the budget shortfall. Unfortunately, the floor amendment to use the Republican budget was rejected by majority Democrats on a party-line vote,” said Schoesler, who pointed out that the Republican budget plan also would allow the Discover Pass fee and hunting and fishing license fees to remain untouched.

“The majority budget is going to tax the people who fish and hunt to help the general-fund budget. That is just wrong. Our friends and neighbors should not be treated like they are millionaires to get more money out of them,” said Schoesler.

The House of Representatives is expected to pass its version of the operating budget on Monday. After that happens, Senate and House budget leaders will meet to work out differences between the two proposals and agree on a compromise budget.