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Lynnwood lobbyist briefs council on 2026 session: millionaires tax, Poplar Way Bridge and budget risks
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Summary
At the April 20 work session, state lobbyist Brianna Murray summarized the 2026 legislative session for Lynnwood, highlighting a new 9.9% high-earners income tax, a $200 million placeholder for cities if the tax is upheld, and an additional $1.5 million added to Poplar Way Bridge, while warning of budgetary uncertainty and downstream impacts on city revenues.
Brianna Murray, Lynnwood's state lobbyist with Gordon Thomas Honeywell Government Relations, told the City Council on April 20 that the 2026 Washington Legislature adopted a series of measures that could reshape local finances and regulatory duties. "It is a 9.9% tax on income over $1,000,000," Murray said of the high-earners ("millionaires") tax, a major policy of the session that is now subject to a legal challenge in state courts.
Why it matters: Murray said the legislature included intent language and offsets in the same package, including expansions of business tax credits and a working-families credit, and penciled approximately $200 million of support for cities and counties that would become available if the new income tax is upheld. She warned that the funding is currently an undetailed placeholder and could be changed or eliminated depending on court outcomes and future budget choices.
Murray framed the session as a short 60-day year in the two-year cycle and reviewed how supplemental budgets were balanced by transfers, closing narrower loopholes and tapping the budget stabilization account. She said lawmakers also backfilled a $375 million sweep from the Public Works Assistance account with other resources but cautioned that the sweeping and backfill choices increase near-term uncertainty for local capital programs.
Council members pressed Murray about implementation and local impacts. Murray highlighted a targeted success for Lynnwood: the city had previously secured $10 million for the Poplar Way Bridge and, through final negotiations and advocacy by state legislators including Senator Mark Elias, the project received an additional $1,500,000 in the final transportation package for a total of $11,500,000. "I think it is his advocacy in those final budget negotiations that landed you all with $1,500,000 in additional funding," she said.
Murray also described land-use legislation and an important local exemption. House Bill 1491 included new requirements for transit-oriented development and a mandatory 20-year multifamily tax exemption for some TOD areas; Murray said Lynnwood successfully secured language in a tax-increment-financing bill that exempts the city's existing TIF area from that mandatory multifamily tax exemption, preserving the function of that financing mechanism for the city.
On public-safety and service-cost topics, Murray flagged rising jail medical costs as an unresolved statewide issue that did not produce a durable legislative fix this session. She noted a reduction of $5 million in the state's cannabis revenue-sharing account and said the legislature also authorized a new councilmanic sales-tax option for children, youth and family services that cities may consider to fund things like rental assistance, after-school programs and transportation.
Council members and Murray agreed on next steps: early planning for the 2027 session (the 2027 session opens Jan. 11, 2027), targeted outreach to state legislators, use of Association of Washington Cities resources and a local legislative roundtable that would bring county and state representatives together with Lynnwood officials.
The council did not take formal action at the session. Murray said she will provide council members with post-session talking points and cost estimates to support outreach and suggested staff-returned, prioritized requests for the 2027 cycle.
