The Republican federal budget bill has devastated Washington families | Opinion

As the Republican shutdown of our federal government dragged on, harmful impacts to Washington state increased. From federal employees working without pay and threatened with mass firings, to 900,000 Washingtonians threatened with losing food assistance, state legislators have been hearing from constituents who are fearful and worried for themselves and their families.

But it’s not just the shutdown causing pain for Washington households. There is plenty in the Republican budget (HR 1), which President Donald Trump signed in July, that hurts the good people of our state.

Trump’s Republican budget bill is a disaster for Washington state. The harm to Medicaid and healthcare coverage alone is staggering. In Washington, many low- and moderate-income families, children, people with disabilities and elderly individuals rely on Medicaid. Nearly all of them will lose coverage and have to reapply, and an estimated 180,000 will lose their Medicaid coverage completely.

HR 1 also guts funding for the Affordable Care Act subsidies that enable 286,000 Washingtonians to buy affordable health care plans.

If the subsidies go away, as Trump Republicans have demanded, healthcare premiums will skyrocket for families, seniors and self-employed Washingtonians. Many Washington families are already seeing these increases with renewal notices.

If you aren’t on Medicaid or buying a plan on WA HealthPlanFinder, these cuts will still impact you. People losing coverage will have no choice but to get their healthcare from emergency rooms, overwhelming an already fragile system. Community health centers and medical facilities will close, especially in rural communities that cannot bear the increased costs.

Republicans continue to deny that HR 1 is going to devastate healthcare in this state. Over the last six years, Democrats in Olympia have increased healthcare and public health funding by $14 billion, including a $909 million increase last year to maintain Medicaid coverage. Legislative Republicans opposed those increases.

HR 1 jeopardizes everything we have done to get our uninsured rate under 5% and the good work we have done in Olympia to make healthcare more affordable and accessible to Washington’s working families.

When legislative Democrats increased the availability of quality, affordable healthcare coverage in the individual market by passing SB 5526 in 2019, not a single Republican voted yes.

When legislative Democrats passed HB 1087 that same year to create a state long-term care benefit and fill a need the private insurance market could not, not a single House Republican voted yes. (In 2024, Washington voters upheld this benefit at the ballot box, despite Republican attacks on it.)

When legislative Democrats eliminated co-pays and deductibles for abortion care (SB 5242) in 2023, not a single Republican voted yes.

Now legislative Republicans are saying Washingtonians who lose their Medicaid coverage should blame Democrats in Olympia, rather than Trump Republicans in DC. Yet no one is losing basic Medicaid coverage due to any actions by the state legislature.

By contrast, HR 1 cuts an estimated $3 billion of Medicaid funding for our state each year — a 10% cut. That means by 2027, almost 74,000 people will lose their health care coverage in Washington state.

Because of HR 1, Washingtonians will see their healthcare cut, while state government is required to spend more of your tax dollars to implement new red tape the bill imposes on Medicaid and food assistance.

Republicans own this mess, and they could fix it if they wanted to. In DC, Trump Republicans control the House, the Senate and the presidency.

In this Washington, Democrats control the Legislature and will focus this coming session on minimizing harm from HR 1. It won’t be possible to undo all the damage Trump Republicans are doing to healthcare, food assistance, clean energy, and more.

We hope legislative Republicans will join us in protecting Washington state and pushing back on the most damaging decisions coming from the White House and Congress.

Speaker Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, represents the 27th Legislative District in the Washington State House of Representatives.

This story was originally published November 18, 2025 at 3:00 AM.