John Braun commentary: As 2025 ends, a sobering look at what Olympia has done to our state
Friday, December 19, 2025
On the eighth day of Christmas, according to the popular holiday song, the gift was eight maids a-milking.
I can’t say if milking a cow would qualify as a taxable “live presentation” under the sales tax expansion approved in Olympia this year, but there’s a good chance the tax would now extend to the nine ladies dancing, 10 lords a-leaping, 11 pipers piping and 12 drummers drumming.
As this is a time for reflecting on the past year and preparing for the new one, a member of our Senate Republican Caucus staff compiled a list of a dozen things — like the expanded sales tax — that in some way contribute to or symbolize the lack of affordability in our state. Each is related to majority-Democrat policies imposed in 2025, and together they follow the progression of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Here goes.
First day: Olympia policies have made our state number one on the list of most expensive states for dining out, with the Washington Hospitality Association recently reporting the menu prices we see are 13.6% higher than the national average.
Second day: Olympia gave us a state government that has grown at two times the rate of the median salary of Washington workers. Of the many ways to measure affordability, it’s hard to find a standard that is more straight up than this: your wages versus what government costs.
Third day: There are three “gifts” from which to choose. Housing prices are third worst in the nation; this year’s increase in the state gas tax moved Washington to third worst on the U.S.; and, since the cap-and-tax law (the so-called Climate Commitment Act) took full effect in mid-2023, gas prices here have been third worst in the country more often than not.
Fourth day: Olympia gave us the fourth-highest cost of living in the country. In 2017, our state ranked 10th, which was still too high, but it’s really shot up since the return of one-party rule in 2018 and the wave after wave of tax increases and expensive red tape that has followed.
Fifth day: Olympia gave our state the fifth least-affordable rent prices in the country. While the progressive-socialists in the Legislature celebrate this year’s passage of their statewide rent-control bill, anyone who understands the free market and the movement of capital knows this will decrease the supply of rentals and increase the cost of rent in the long run.
Sixth day: The state’s six auctions of carbon allowances this year not only enriched Olympia by another $1.6 billion but also had the effect of a 60-cent-per-gallon increase in gas Washington gas prices. Remember this when Democrats complain about Washington’s “upside-down” or regressive tax code, because the carbon allowances act like a hidden gas tax. Gas taxes are a prime example of the regressive category of taxes that take a larger slice of income from lower- and middle-income families.
Seventh day: Another Olympia “gift” is the low rate of job growth in Washington, which is 1/7th the rate of the rest of the nation. Our state’s non-partisan chief economist doesn’t expect that to change, for in the final quarterly state-revenue forecast for the year he projects zero employment growth for 2026.
Eighth day: Olympia forces us to pay eight cents for a reusable plastic or paper bag at the store, thinking it will reduce plastic waste. Yet we learned this year from a study by Washington State University that the policy has increased plastic waste by 17%. The fee will increase by 50% in 2026, but does anyone truly believe that change will benefit the environment when the eight-cent fee didn’t?
Ninth day: The Senate’s majority Democrats came into the 2025 session behind a set of nine tax proposals. They and House Democrats ultimately supported five state-level tax increases that add up to $9.55 billion over four years.
The disturbing part for taxpayers is that only two of the tax hikes from the nine-point tax plan made it into the final package. That means Democrats still have the remaining seven proposals available. They include a statewide version of the Seattle jobs tax, which is already getting a new push for 2026 from far-left-leaning state legislators.
Tenth day: The sales-tax expansion falls here because it means a 10% increase in costs on those who purchase an array of previously untaxed services. The fact that food banks and school districts are among those hit by the tax hike, which was rushed by Democrats through the Senate and House in just eight days, makes this an embarrassing example of how haste made an unnecessary tax hike even worse.
Eleventh day: State and local taxes in our state total $1,100 — read it as “eleven hundred” to make the song connection — per person above the median level in our country. For a family of four, then, it’s $4,400 more, and another stark example of how unaffordable our state has become.
Twelfth day: The $12.46 billion tax increase imposed in Olympia over the next four years is the clear choice to fill the twelfth and final spot. That’s nearly $3 billion in local-level taxes made possible by legislative Democrats plus the $9.55 billion in state-level taxes.
As 2025 draws to a close, these dozen points offer a sobering look at the state of our state. They illustrate what Republicans mean when we say Washington can’t afford policies that make life harder for the families we represent. In the new year, legislators must do better.
Sen. John Braun of Centralia serves the 20th Legislative District, which spans parts of four counties from Yelm to Vancouver. He became Senate Republican leader in 2020.