State Sen. Jim McCune, R-Graham, is responding with what he describes as “a dose of tough love” to Gov. Bob Ferguson’s recent admission that state government is headed for its third significant budget shortfall in three years.

McCune points out that the administration’s June 5 directive calling on state agencies to find spending reductions fails to acknowledge decades of reckless spending by the Democrat legislative majority. He argues that this latest fiscal crisis is heavily exacerbated by pouring hundreds of millions of state tax dollars into services for undocumented immigrants.

“Governor Ferguson is sending panic signals to state agencies and demanding cuts while completely ignoring the donkey in the room,” McCune said. “Olympia does not have a revenue problem; it has a chronic, unchecked spending problem. The Democrat majority has treated hardworking Washingtonians like an ATM, and now that the bill is coming due, they are not being transparent about the true cost of their policies.”

McCune argues that while the majority party in Olympia claims there is no money left to support core government functions, a look at the state operating budget reveals hundreds of millions of limited state general-fund tax dollars are being purposefully diverted away from citizens to fund parallel safety nets for non-citizens. Because federal law bars undocumented immigrants from receiving federal welfare, Ferguson and his legislative allies are forcing Washington taxpayers to pick up the costs instead.

The fiscal footprint of these state-discretionary policies includes:

• $142.3 million for healthcare expansions: The current biennial operating budget explicitly allocates $142.3 million in state general funds just to maintain enrollment caps for the state-funded Apple Health expansion, which targets low-income adults ineligible for federal Medicaid primarily due to immigration status. This is paired with state-funded Cascade Care premium subsidies through the Washington Health Benefit Exchange.
• $25 million in parallel welfare systems: The Legislature handed $25 million to the Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance specifically to expand housing resources and emergency integration services for those who do not qualify for traditional federal safety nets.
• Housing and eligibility changes: Following the passage of HB 1260 in 2023, the state altered its rules to allow undocumented residents access to the Housing and Essential Needs program, increasing competition for limited state emergency housing resources that were previously reserved for citizens.
• Millions more in education: According to the Congressional Budget Office, specialized language acquisition and local school expansions represent the single largest service cost driver imposed on state budgets during immigration surges. Furthermore, Washington draws directly from state higher education allocations to fund full tuition coverage for undocumented students via the Washington College Grant.

This massive draw on state resources comes as immigrant populations reach historic highs. While special-interest groups long claimed the national undocumented population was flat at 10.5 million, data from the Migration Policy Institute and the Pew Research Center confirms the nation recently experienced the sharpest two-year immigration surge in 30 years.

As a result, the national unauthorized population has soared to a record 13.7 to 14.0 million, and our state has become a primary destination. Between 2017 and 2021, Washington was one of only two states in the entire nation to see a significant population increase (in excess of 60,000) while historic hubs like California saw sharp declines. Today, Washington’s undocumented population has swelled to an estimated 344,000 to 375,000 people. This means nearly 5% of the state’s entire population is unauthorized, tying Washington for the eighth-highest percentage in the United States.

“The Democrats who control our state cannot continue to incentivize illegal immigration with millions in state-funded handouts while the state budget faces a structural deficit and our communities face a public-safety crisis,” McCune continued. “The fix is to stop bleeding money, prioritize legal citizens and ensure our laws protect our communities rather than shielding criminals.”

To address both the fiscal and public-safety impacts of this crisis, McCune intends to offer two legislative changes during the 2027 legislative session to roll back the restrictive provisions of the state’s 2019 sanctuary law, known as the Keep Washington Working Act:

• Prioritize public safety from violent offenders: Amend the Keep Washington Working Act to explicitly allow the Washington Department of Corrections to fully communicate and facilitate interactions with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This will ensure the immediate removal of any undocumented immigrant convicted of a violent offense, serious violent offense, or sex offense.
• Remove felony DUI offenders: Amend the act to allow law enforcement and correctional facilities to cooperate with federal immigration authorities for the swift removal of undocumented immigrants who have racked up felony DUI convictions here in Washington, taking habitual, dangerous drivers off our roads.

“During the Biden administration, Washington’s undocumented population surged, yet state-level cooperation with federal immigration authorities was later deliberately severed,” said McCune. “Now, even as national numbers begin to stabilize under President Trump, Washington is squandering a vital opportunity. We have a robust federal partner ready to remove dangerous criminals from our streets, but our state’s Keep Washington Working Act actively blocks local law enforcement from working with federal partners to keep our local communities safe.”

McCune continued: “Worse, the legislative majority’s restrictions on information sharing have created an intentional data blackout, making it nearly impossible to ascertain exact figures. By prioritizing sanctuary politics over public safety and hiding the data, the Democrat majority is leaving our streets vulnerable.

“The hardworking taxpayers of Washington are tired of paying more and getting less from an out-of-touch government,” concluded McCune. “It is time to scale back these unaffordable, state-funded incentives, restore cooperation with federal law enforcement, and return to a budget that prioritizes the people who are legally working and paying taxes in our communities.”