Former budget officials and lawmakers urge multi‑year vetting and clearer budget assumptions to stabilize Washington tax policy

At a policy summit hosted by the Association of Washington Business, former state budget director Marty Brown and Kitsap County Commissioner Christine Rolfes argued that Washington needs clearer multi‑year budgeting and more transparent revenue assumptions to make its tax environment predictable for businesses.

Brown, who served as director of the Office of Financial Management, said revenue shocks such as the September 2001 market collapse and the COVID‑19 pandemic make short‑term forecasting unreliable. “That’s not predictable. That’s not stable,” he said, arguing that sudden declines in revenue force rushed special sessions and blunt cuts.

Rolfes, drawing on experience as a longtime legislator and recent county commissioner, described the state’s practice of a four‑year budget outlook and the workarounds lawmakers have used to manage volatility. Using Washington’s capital‑gains tax as an example, she said policymakers deliberately staged spending so proceeds were not treated as stable general‑fund revenues until legal and referendum risks were clearer. “We set it up so that it would be used to grow early learning over time,” Rolfes said.

Both panelists recommended practical structural changes. Rolfes proposed that significant tax changes be subject to at least two legislative sessions before taking effect so lawmakers, stakeholders and the public can adapt. “That gives everybody a chance to adapt to it,” she said. Brown and other panelists urged publishing the assumptions behind the forecast — inflation, sales‑tax growth, caseload changes and collective‑bargaining cost assumptions — in the budget summary so legislators and the public can judge how officials arrived at figures.

Panelists also discussed the limits of short budgeting windows and the need for performance measures tied to ongoing spending. “We need to do a little bit more results viewing,” Brown said, calling for clearer performance metrics so the state knows what services deliver for tax dollars.

Moderators closed the discussion by asking attendees to weigh in via a live poll and encouraged continued dialogue between business leaders, budget staff and elected officials. No formal actions or votes were recorded during the session.