Washington House passes supplemental budget after hours of debate over Medicaid, schools and climate funds

The Washington state House passed a supplemental operating budget late Feb. 28, approving the Appropriations Committee's striking amendment to Substitute Senate Bill 59 98 after extended debate and multiple roll‑call votes. The final tally was 52 yeas, 41 nays and 5 excused.

The measure, presented as a supplemental to the 2025–27 operating budget, included a mix of new appropriations, transfers using climate‑related funds and targeted program changes. Lawmakers spent the day arguing over policy tradeoffs, with hours of floor speeches focused on cuts to Medicaid reimbursements, changes to K‑12 material, supplies and operating costs (MSOC), and whether certain dedicated accounts should be repurposed for property‑tax relief or other priorities.

"Budgets are blueprints to the values in our heart," Representative Ormsby said in floor remarks urging colleagues to support the package. "Maintaining services for those basic needs has been the North Star that we have followed," she said, asking members to weigh the competing pressures the budget attempts to meet.

Opponents repeatedly objected to the scale and some of the methods used in the bill. Representative Couture, who voted against the…