Washington tax packages as a share of general-fund revenue

What this chart asks

Relative to the size of the state budget, was 2025's tax package the largest in Washington history?

Why it is shown this way

• Bars compare separate sessions; the axis starts at zero so bar length is proportional to share.
• A share of revenue removes both inflation and the growth of the state's economy and budget.

Chart annotations

These markers provide relevant context for interpreting the chart. Their timing or position does not, by itself, establish causation.

2025 level (4.7%)

Threshold: 4.7

Data and accessibility

Download chart data · Open accessible table · Download PNG · Download SVG

Dataset wa-tax-package-sizes, analysis share-by-session

Sources

This chart draws on the sources of the dataset versions it visualizes.

Size of Washington's largest state tax packages, 1981-2025

1. Washington State Legislature 1981 second special session revenue increase ($563 million)

   Retrieved November 3, 2026. Public record of the State of Washington. Linked, not redistributed

   Reliability: Government. Final Legislative Report prepared by legislative staff after the November 1981 special session; includes a general-fund reconciliation table.

2. Washington State Legislature (fiscal.wa.gov) Spring 1982 revenue increase (alternative $326 million figure)

   Retrieved November 3, 2026. Public record of the State of Washington. Linked, not redistributed

   Reliability: Government. 1982 Final Legislative Report, a scanned document; text read by text recognition.

3. Washington State Legislature Spring 1982 ($300 million) and June 1982 ($144.3 million) revenue increases

   Retrieved November 3, 2026. Public record of the State of Washington. Linked, not redistributed

   Reliability: Government. Final Legislative Report for the June 1982 special session, prepared by legislative staff; summarizes both 1982 special sessions.

4. Washington State Legislature (fiscal.wa.gov) General Fund-State revenue for 1981-83 ($6,892.9 million)

   Retrieved November 3, 2026. Public record of the State of Washington. Linked, not redistributed

   Reliability: Government. 1989-91 Legislative Budget Notes by House and Senate fiscal staff; table of General Fund-State revenues by source and biennium from the March 1989 forecast.

5. Washington State Legislature (fiscal.wa.gov) 1993 omnibus tax package, 2ESSB 5967 ($648.7 million)

   Retrieved November 3, 2026. Public record of the State of Washington. Linked, not redistributed

   Reliability: Government. 1993-95 Legislative Budget Notes by House and Senate fiscal staff.

6. Washington State Legislature 1993 health reform taxes, E2SSB 5304 ($251.4 million)

   Retrieved November 3, 2026. Public record of the State of Washington. Linked, not redistributed

   Reliability: Government. Final bill report prepared by Senate staff.

7. Washington State Legislature (fiscal.wa.gov) General Fund-State revenue for 1993-95 (about $16,259.6 million) and the 1994 surtax cut

   Retrieved November 3, 2026. Public record of the State of Washington. Linked, not redistributed

   Reliability: Government. 1994 supplemental Legislative Budget Notes; the 1993-95 revenue figure is the February 1994 forecast plus 1994 legislation, not a final actual.

8. Washington Economic and Revenue Forecast Council (archived copy) 2010 session revenue legislation ($761.0 million in 2009-11; $1,658.7 million in 2011-13)

   Retrieved November 3, 2026. Public record of the State of Washington. Linked, not redistributed

   Reliability: Government. June 2010 revenue forecast; its table of revenue legislation passed in the 2010 session. The forecast council is the state's nonpartisan revenue forecaster.

9. Washington State Legislature (fiscal.wa.gov) 2017 revenue legislation ($2,046.5 million in 2017-19)

   Retrieved November 3, 2026. Public record of the State of Washington. Linked, not redistributed

   Reliability: Government. 2017 Legislative Budget Notes by legislative fiscal staff.

10. Washington State Legislature (fiscal.wa.gov) 2019 revenue legislation ($349.6 million in 2019-21)

    Retrieved November 3, 2026. Public record of the State of Washington. Linked, not redistributed

    Reliability: Government. 2019 Legislative Budget Notes by legislative fiscal staff.

11. Washington State Legislature (fiscal.wa.gov) 2021 revenue legislation (about $414 million in 2021-23)

    Retrieved November 3, 2026. Public record of the State of Washington. Linked, not redistributed

    Reliability: Government. 2021 Legislative Budget Notes by legislative fiscal staff.

12. Washington State Legislature (fiscal.wa.gov) 2025 revenue package by bill (2025-27), and the March 2025 forecast

    Retrieved November 3, 2026. Public record of the State of Washington. Linked, not redistributed

    Reliability: Government. 2025 Legislative Budget Notes by legislative fiscal staff; lists each 2025 revenue bill's estimated effect on near-general-fund revenue.

13. Washington Economic and Revenue Forecast Council (archived copy) General-fund and near-general-fund revenue by fiscal year, 2009-11 through 2027-29

    Retrieved November 3, 2026. Public record of the State of Washington. Linked, not redistributed

    Reliability: Government. September 2026 revenue forecast; history and forecast tables by fiscal year (cash basis). 2025-27 is one year actual and one year forecast.

14. Washington Research Council Four-year split of the 2025 tax bills (Table 1) and an independent ranking since 1994

    Retrieved November 3, 2026. Copyright Washington Research Council; quoted for review. Linked, not redistributed

    Reliability: Advocacy group. Has a stake in this finding. Business-supported fiscal research group; its 2025 report calls the package the largest since at least the early 1990s. Its Table 1 cites the state forecast council.

15. Washington Policy Center The claim being checked

    Retrieved November 3, 2026. Copyright Washington Policy Center; quoted for review. Linked, not redistributed

    Reliability: Advocacy group. Has a stake in this finding. Free-market think tank that opposed the 2025 tax bills; this is a commentary piece by its communications director.

16. Washington State Senate Republican Caucus Partisan comparison by share of the budget

    Retrieved November 3, 2026. Public caucus web page; quoted for review. Linked, not redistributed

    Reliability: Party to the dispute. Has a stake in this finding. The minority caucus that voted against the 2025 tax bills; the page gives no calculation.

17. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted

    Retrieved November 3, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Redistributed as cpi_u_annual.csv

    Reliability: Government. Monthly series CUUR0000SA0 retrieved through the BLS public API and averaged by calendar year. October 2025 is missing because of the 2025 federal funding lapse.

18. FactHub Near-general-fund revenue for 2017-19 ($46,081 million), compiled from the forecast council's history tables

    Retrieved November 3, 2026. FactHub dataset. Linked

    Reliability: Other. An earlier FactHub dataset; its revenue-by-biennium table copies the forecast council's September 2026 history table.

Limitations

• The 1981-82 shares are understated: those taxes were collected for only part of the biennium, but the base is the full biennium's revenue. Combined, the three 1981-82 sessions were 14.6%.
• 1993's share is slightly overstated: it includes health taxes whose account is not in the 1993-95 base. Without them it is 4.0%.
• 2025's share depends on the period: 4.7% in 2025-27 against the latest forecast, 5.1% against the forecast before the package, 6.6% in 2027-29.