State Sen. Jim McCune announced today he will offer a slate of new legislative proposals aimed at addressing what he called the “disturbing and systematic” effort by the Democrat majority during this year’s legislative session to bypass the Washington State Constitution, strip local authority, and ignore the direct will of the people.

“From unconstitutional new taxes to the looting of first-responder pensions, the 2026 session was defined by a Democrat majority that views our state constitution as a suggestion rather than a mandate and the will of the voters as a nuisance to be circumvented,” said McCune, R-Graham. “We are seeing a historic consolidation of power in Olympia that should alarm every citizen, regardless of their politics.”

McCune highlighted legislative Democrats’ blatant disregard for the citizen initiative process, the “first power” reserved by the people in Washington’s constitution.

“Despite the constitutional requirement that initiatives take precedence over all other measures except appropriation bills, the Democrat majority refused to even hold public hearings on two major initiatives this year,” McCune pointed out. “They didn’t just ignore these bills; they ignored the hundreds of thousands of Washingtonians whose petitioned their elected representatives, demanding to be heard.”

McCune also pointed to the effort to pass Senate Bill 5973, known as the “initiative killer,” which sought to bury citizen measures under high costs and bureaucratic red tape. Although Senate Republicans were ultimately able to kill the measure this year, McCune warns its introduction alone reveals a dangerous mindset.

“The fact that Democrats even proposed a bill to sabotage the initiative process shows exactly where their hearts are. If adopted, this measure would have silenced the voters and neutered the people’s constitutional powers,” McCune stated.

The 2nd Legislative District senator pointed to several other measures passed this year as evidence of a power grab at the expense of local communities, including:

• The anti-sheriff bill (SB 5974), which shifts oversight of locally-elected sheriffs to a state-appointed commission. McCune argues this violates the home rule principle, disenfranchising voters who elect their sheriffs to be accountable to the community, not the governor’s office.
• Two measures (SB 5929 and HB 2156) were adopted to significantly increase the authority of the state attorney general’s office, allowing for state-level interference in local prosecution. “We are seeing a push to turn the AG’s office into a ‘super-prosecutor’ that can override local decisions. This isn’t about justice; it’s about centralizing power,” said McCune.
• To fund a historically high budget, the majority raided the Law Enforcement and Fire Fighters (LEOFF 1) pension fund, taking billions intended for the retirement of police officers and firefighters. This was coupled with the implementation of an unconstitutional 9.9% income tax (SB 6346).

Washingtonians are already pushing back in the courts. Multiple lawsuits are currently challenging the 9.9% income tax as a violation of the state constitution’s 14th amendment and 137-year-old uniformity requirement, as well as 93 years of legal precedent. Retired first-responder associations have filed suit to block the LEOFF 1 raid, citing a breach of contractual and fiduciary duty. Legal challenges against state interference in the constitutional duties of elected sheriffs have already produced a temporary injunction against the SB 5974 law.

McCune notes that citizens are effectively being forced to pay twice: first through higher taxes, and again for the legal fees to fight their own government’s unconstitutional acts.

“Even if the people ultimately win in the courts, they shouldn’t have to sue their government just to make it follow the law,” McCune added. “This legal tug-of-war is a massive waste of taxpayer resources and a sign that the Legislature has forgotten who it serves.”

McCune is already busy preparing a legislative package for the 2027 session to restore constitutional guardrails, which he argues have been decimated by years of one-party rule in Olympia. His proposals will include:

1. The Pension Protection Act to constitutionally wall-off first-responder retirement funds from future budget raids;
2. The Local Sovereignty Act, aimed at affirming that elected sheriffs are accountable only to their constituents and the constitution; and
3. The Initiative Integrity Act, ensuring that all initiatives to the Legislature receive the constitutionally-mandated respect they deserve, in the form of a guaranteed public hearing.

“The 2026 session proved that Olympia has lost its way,” McCune concluded. “In 2027, my priority will be taking the power out of the hands of Olympia bureaucrats and left-wing special interests and returning it to the people of Washington, where it belongs.”