Senate Democrats are proposing a 5% pay cut for nearly all state employees as the state grapples with an estimated $15 billion budget shortfall over the next four years.
Under the proposal, state employees would receive their previously negotiated raises but almost all would take a significant cut to their base salary from July 1 through June 30, 2026.
The proposal from Sen. June Robinson, D-Everett, comes as lawmakers prepare for the final stretch of the 2025 legislative session where they are tasked with producing a balanced budget for the next 2025-27 biennium amid a significant deficit.
The recent collective bargaining agreements with state employee unions included general wage increases of 5% over two years — 3% in 2025 and 2% in 2026 — and additional boosts for certain job classifications.
Those raises would take effect at the same time as the proposed 5% cut. Robinson, chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said it would save the state $175 million over 12 months.
Senate Republicans are suggesting forgoing wage increases entirely and providing state employees with a $5,000 bonus instead.
Gov. Bob Ferguson offered an alternative approach to state salaries when presenting his proposed budget savings last month. His plan honors the recent collective bargaining agreements but would require most state employees to take one furlough day per month for the next two years for an estimated $300 million in savings.
In addition to the estimated $15 billion deficit, Washington is projected to see a $845 million drop in state revenue over the same four-year period. Lawmakers and Ferguson are eyeing cuts across almost all state agencies.
"We feel like it is legitimate to ask state workers to share in the reductions that we are going to see across the whole budget," Robinson said Thursday.
Several employees are exempt from the pay cuts, including employees at state institutions of higher education, Washington State Patrol officers and ferry workers.
The proposal is modeled off pay cuts that occurred from 2011-13, when state employees took a 3% reduction in their base salaries over two years.
© 2025 The Seattle Times. Visit www.seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
