Thurston County debriefs 2026 legislative session: $500,000 for Regional Justice Center, questions over revenue shifts

Thurston County’s contract lobbyist, Deborah Mejia, told the Board of County Commissioners on June 2 that the 2026 state legislative session produced both important wins for county priorities and new fiscal risks officials will need to manage.

“[It] was a fast and furious session,” Mejia said, describing an operating budget near $80 billion and multi‑billion‑dollar deficits that shaped many decisions. She credited Representative Parsley and regional advocacy for securing $500,000 in the capital budget for the county’s Regional Justice Center, and said the legislature restored about $600,000 in judicial reimbursement after an earlier apparent reduction was corrected.

Those restorations mattered, commissioners said, because the board had preserved expenditure authority for offices at risk of deeper cuts. Summer Miller, the county’s budget and finance manager, said staff submitted a change request to correct a revenue entry so that appropriation and spending authority remained available.

Beyond those wins, Mejia warned of two major fiscal challenges. First, she said transportation funding faces a structural shortfall driven largely by falling gas tax revenue as vehicle efficiency and electric vehicle adoption rise; the legislature prioritized maintenance over new projects and assumed roughly $180 million in project delays over the six‑year program, which could delay some local projects.

Second, Senate Bill 6346 — the proposed surtax on income over $1 million (a so‑called millionaires tax) — will materially reshape state and local revenues if it survives legal and political challenges. Mejia summarized provisions of the measure and related budget actions: the bill would impose a 10% surtax beginning Jan. 2028 on income over $1 million, expand the Working Families Tax Credit, and provide universal free school meals for K–12 students, but the final package also included sales‑tax exemptions (personal hygiene products, over‑the‑counter drugs, diapers) and repeal of many tax increases passed in the prior session. Those changes, Mejia said, “will be a revenue hit to local governments” and could affect transit and other sales‑tax‑reliant services.

Mejia noted legal and electoral uncertainty: a constitutional challenge and referendum pathway are active, and initiative petition drives have already gathered large early signature counts. She urged the county to continue coordinated advocacy and to involve the governor’s office and federal delegation in facility visits and briefings to preserve support for priorities such as the Regional Justice Center and courthouse needs.

The county also flagged policy options that passed this year. House Bill 2442, Mejia said, creates a local sales‑tax option for children and families and authorizes a property tax for public health clinics; it also separates several levies (veterans assistance, mental health and developmental disabilities) from the general levy, a change Thurston County advocated for.

Mejia recommended the board finalize legislative priorities by September to align interim work and outreach before the 2027 session. Commissioners asked staff for objective analyses of local revenue impacts tied to the millionaires tax proposals; Mejia said no single independent database currently verifies migration or business‑relocation claims and suggested state agencies or JLARC could be asked to study impacts but that timing may lag the political debate.

Looking ahead, commissioners said they would continue to press legislators and administration officials for project tours and clearer budgeting paths for capital projects and operational needs. The board closed the session by thanking staff and the delegation for the results and noting further work ahead to monitor implementation and potential legal challenges.