Rep. Walsh solutions to Washington’s problems

Published 1:30 am Monday, July 27, 2026

People ask me what common-sense lawmakers would do to fix what’s broken in Washington. They say, “Give us the plan!” I’ve posted working versions before. People have added thoughts and suggestions. Here’s my 2026 Common-Sense WA Reform Plan. It has 18 points. It would do a lot of fix what’s broken.

Please read this. And share it.

1. Require Zero-based budgeting for all 3 state budgets (Operating, Transportation, Capital) every 2-year cycle. Build our budgets from the ground up, not just carry the previous budgets forward and add to them.

2. Repeal the Climate Commitment Act state carbon tax. The CCA does nothing to reduce carbon pollution. But it adds over a dollar per gallon to the price of gas and diesel in WA. End this attack on the cost of living and on WA working people.

3. Replace the “Prototypical School Budget Model” currently in state law with a simpler per-student model. The current model doesn’t work well for students or teachers. It favors larger school districts over smaller ones. School budgets must be fair.

4. Redirect K-12 school money away from Education Service Districts and into classrooms. Don’t defund ESDs completely. But they absorb too much money. That money should be in the classroom.

5. Remove “imminent” from the definition of “physical harm” in the Keeping Families Together Act. Bad language in a well-intended but flawed law is why kids are dying from drug exposure. Stop this law-made crisis.

6. Pass the Oakley Carlson Act. Hold bureaucrats at DCYF (and potentially other state agencies) accountable when bad things happen to kids. Do more for family reunification—when parents are ready. Bureaucrats don’t like it. Too bad.

7. End WA’s “sanctuary state” policy by repealing the “Keep Washington Working Act.” This unlawful state law prohibits state agencies from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement agencies.

8. Remove illegal aliens from Medicaid/Apple Health. In the rest of the U.S., illegal aliens can’t get Medicaid. WA got special permission under Obamacare to experiment. With state tax dollars. This favors criminals over veterans and kids. Stop it.

9. Exempt counties with populations under 1 million people from the WA Growth Management Act. The GMA causes WA’s housing shortage. Limit the GMA and we solve our housing “crisis.” Make construction great again!

10. Prioritize highway, road and bridge maintenance in the WA Transportation Budget. We’re wasting too much money on mass transit and other boondoggles. Fix up WA’s roads and bridges. Relieve traffic congestion.

11. End WA’s policy preference for “Housing First” homeless shelter projects. Giving taxpayer-funded housing to active addicts is a theory that has failed. Been disproven and debunked. Treatment first!

12. Reform the WA Involuntary Treatment Act to allow 90-day commitment for people who are a danger to themselves or others. Our current efforts to get addicts sober and insane people back on their meds have failed.

13. Require NGOs (state-funded non-profit organizations) to report all of their expenditures to the WA Public Disclosure Commission, just as political campaigns do. Transparency and accountability stop corruption.

14. Require the WA governor to acknowledge and approve all bureaucratic agency rulemaking before such rules can take effect. The executive branch dodges accountability for its rules. No more.

15. Require Proof of Citizenship when people register to vote in Washington. This does not change Washington’s vote-by-mail system. Stronger Voter ID makes the system secure.

16. Protect Girls’ Sports. Vote YES on Initiative IL-638. Keep men out of girls’ sports. This is a civil rights issue, as Title IX of the federal Civil Rights Act states clearly. It’s also a physical safety issue. Vote YES to protect girls’ sports.

17. Protect WA families. Stop state bureaucrats from hiding information about minor children from their parents. Vote YES on Initiative IL26-001 to assure that custodial parents and guardians know what’s happening to their minor children.

18. Repeal the WA State Income Tax Scheme (Senate Bill 6346). Vote YES on Initiative IP26-645. Ignore the misleading rhetoric from the Washington left. Vote YES to repeal this bad Ferguson-Pedersen tax.

Vote, vote, vote!

Fight, fight, fight for these good reforms.