John Braun commentary: Don’t talk about ‘affordability’ while making things more expensive
Monday, November 24, 2025
Democrats have a new buzzword: “affordability.”
Many believe that word made the difference in helping socialist Zohran Mamdani and others on the political left to win elections back east. That means we should watch for Democrats in Olympia to jump with both feet onto the affordability bandwagon as well.
However, to paraphrase one of the memorable lines from that classic ‘80s film The Princess Bride, I don’t think “affordability” means what Democrats think it means.
Mamdani, the New York City mayor-elect, used it to promote his agenda of no-cost childcare, fare-free buses, rent freezes and city-owned grocery stores. It also appears in the online platform of Seattle’s new socialist mayor-elect, Katie Wilson.
Wilson intends to make at least one part of her approach to affordability an issue during our 2026 legislative session. It’s found in her vow to “work with advocates and the labor movement on state-level reforms to establish universal affordable childcare while ensuring living wages for childcare workers.”
By state-level reforms, she means getting her progressive-socialist allies in our Legislature to push for changes in state law - and “universal affordable” certainly sounds like code for no-cost.
Who will pay for that childcare? Someone else, of course.
When you hear Democrats in our Legislature and the executive branch speak of affordability, as they surely will in the coming months, remember this: they are more responsible than anyone for making life in our state unaffordable.
This year alone, our colleagues across the aisle made everyday services like streaming channels and driver’s education more expensive by expanding the sales tax. They opened the door to higher local property taxes. They made it 50% more expensive to go to state parks and increased the cost of hunting and fishing licenses. They raised the state tax on gas and diesel, along with a smorgasbord of other transportation costs, all of which hit at the pump or through increased freight and travel costs.
This is on top of the other Democratic policies that were already making life unaffordable for Washington families, like the Climate Commitment Act. For years the CCA’s “cap-and-tax” policy has put Washington at least third on the list of worst gas prices. Fuel costs over a dollar more here than the national average. More recently the CCA has driven up home heating costs.
Another example is our state’s wireless tax rate, which at 21.6% is second-worst nationally. Also, Democrats imposed the payroll tax that forces many Washington workers to fund a state-run long-term care program that will provide relatively little, if any, benefit to most of those who pay the tax.
A new study found only Hawaii, California, New York and Massachusetts are more expensive for retirees than Washington. And as of this year, our state’s death tax has the highest maximum rate in the nation, at a whopping 35%. Even when you die you can’t get away from their taxes.
Considering all Democrats have done to make living in our state more expensive, who would now trust them to know what “affordability” truly means?
Up to now, they’ve typically used that word only in relation to housing. This past session, the topic of affordable housing seemed to begin and end with the rent-control bill they passed. All available national data says that this will just increase the cost of housing.
Senate Republicans, meanwhile, have had affordability as one of our three priorities since 2022. To us it revolves around controlling the cost of living by controlling the cost of government, so people can keep more of their own money instead of sending it to Olympia in taxes and fees.
And because we were focused on affordability long before Mamdani made it a fashionable word for Democrats, we’ve had time to compile a list of thoughtful ways to restore affordability in our state.
They range from property-tax relief linked to a state spending limit and more audits to root out waste, fraud and abuse to better oversight of state agencies like the Department of Children, Youth and Families, which have cost hundreds of millions due to tragic but avoidable mistakes.
Republicans also are well aware of the lack of affordable childcare. The cause is much the same as the shortage of affordable housing: overregulation and taxation by the state.
After driving up the price of something through their policies, Democrats tend to respond by steering taxpayer dollars to a select group of people to help pay the higher cost – as they’re doing with childcare.
The better answer, of course, is to reform the regulations that drove many childcare providers to close their doors, shrinking the supply and raising costs.
In the meantime, I’ve introduced a bill that would increase access to childcare for families who pay out of pocket. Senate Bill 5310 would also save money for taxpayers and deserves more attention in 2026 than Democrats gave it this year.
When government works smarter, more efficiently and lives within its means, everyone benefits. That’s the path to affordability.
In light of the Mamdani and Wilson mayoral wins, watch for the Democrats’ new favorite buzzword in the coming months in association with another big tax proposal – like another try for a state income tax on so-called “high earners.”
Should they succeed, history tells us those with the means to leave our state will do exactly that. Just ask Olympia’s Democrats what happened to the hundreds of millions of dollars they expected to take from Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, until he moved to Florida to avoid the new capital-gains income tax.
When the wealthy leave, the funding for the very programs their taxes were supposed to sustain is shifted squarely onto the backs of working families.
However, I have faith that the people of Washington are too smart to fall for the idea that “affordability” means government hands out things at no cost. They realize someone, somewhere, is ultimately paying the bill.
Republicans know you don’t make living in our state more affordable by making it more expensive. Legislators must do better.
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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.