WA 2026 Legislation Bills Could Amount to Surprise Expenses for the Average Pocketbook

The Washington Legislative Session is now open, and with this being a "short session," but that does not mean less bills, activity or hearings, but that they will be coming at a faster pace in a shorter amount of time.

“The legacy of the 2025 state Legislature may be raising the cost of living in Washington amid uncertain economic times. No matter how hard ruling Democrats try to steer a buffet of tax hikes toward businesses and wealthier Washingtonians, they will make life costlier for all — including those who can least afford it … At breathtaking speed...the Democratic-controlled House and Senate rushed through the largest tax hike in state history.” -From The Seattle Times editorial board on April 25, 2025 (“Ruling Democrats, your tax hikes come at a cost to all WA residents”)

Your Home, Your Business & Your Lifestyle

Here is a list of legislative bills that caught our attention:

🎯The link will take you to the page of the "status" of the bill,
🎯At the top of those pages is a Bill Summary
🎯To the right of each Bill is the button to submit your position or testimony.
❗(Make sure to check on the dates listed of the hearings that are scheduled as these are time-sensitive to submit your positions or testimony.)

Bills That Will Affect Your Home, Utilities & Affordability

📜House Bill 1921 | Road usage charge: Establishes a road usage charge for Washington motorists.

📜House Bill 1334 | Property tax cap: Triples the property tax growth limit.

📜House Bill 1870 | New property tax: Allows counties to impose a new property tax .

📜House Bill 2116 | Raising property tax limits: Increases schools’ local levy property tax ability by raising the cap on the maximum value a home can be taxed for school purposes.

📜House Bill 1480 | Tax on home sales: Allows counties to impose a local real estate excise tax.

📜House Bill 2027 | Another tax on home sales: Imposes a new real estate transfer tax of up to 3% on the sale of certain homes.

📜House Bill 1702 | Tax increase on utilities: Allows counties to impose an additional 3% tax on utilities.

📜House Bill 1517 | Electronic devices: Adds an additional tax on the sale of cell phones, smart watches and other devices.

📜House Bill 1581 | Phone services: Increases taxes on wired, wireless, and VoIP lines and for prepaid wireless services (988 tax).

📜House Bill 2046 | Capital gains: Taxes unrealized gains from intangible assets such as mutual funds, stocks, and bonds (wealth tax).

“When we started this session, all I heard about was making the wealthy pay their fair share. This budget spreads taxes across all working Washington residents in a manner that is going to make this state more and more unaffordable to live in. This budget does not fix Washington, it hurts Washington.”—House Republican Floor Leader April Connors

Bills That Will Affect Job Providers and Working Washingtonians

📜House Bill 2100 | Payroll tax: Creates a payroll tax of 5% on salaries above $125,000 for companies that gross more than $5 million, and employee wages higher than $7 million in the previous year, and have more than 20 employees.

📜Senate Bill 5796 | Another payroll tax: Creates a new payroll tax of 5% on salaries of $189,371 or more against the portion of salary above the Social Security wage limit for employers with more than $7 million in payroll expenses.

📜House Bill 1320 | B&O tax increases: Raises taxes 10-20% on more than a dozen types of job providers in Washington state.

📜House Bill 1560 | Executive compensation surcharge on hospitals: Creates a new tax on health care entities based on the salaries of their executives.

📜House Bill 1785 | Executive compensation surcharge for businesses: Imposes a surcharge on certain companies based on the salaries of their executives.

📜House Bill 2098 | Tech surcharge hike: Eliminates the cap on the advanced computing surcharge, drastically increasing the tax on tech companies. Right now, the cap is $75 million.

Bills that Might Affect Things You Enjoy:

📜House Bill 1607 | Bottle tax: Adds a 10-cent-per-beverage container tax.

📜Senate Bill 5576 | Short-term rentals: Imposes new sales tax on Airbnb, VRBO and other short-term rental homes.

📜House Bill 2079 | Alcoholic beverages: Increases taxes on wine, cider and locally brewed beer.

📜House Bill 2139 | Snowmobile fees: Increases snowmobile vehicle license fees by 50 percent.

📜House Bill 2068 | Taxing smokers and vapers: Places an additional $2-per-pack tax on cigarettes, increases the tax on vape products to 95% of the sale price, and increases the license fees for retailers who sell cigarettes and vape products.

📜House Bill 2382 | Another tax on smokers and vapers: Adds a $0.10-per-cigarette tax, raises the cigar tax from $0.65 to $0.85 per cigar, and statutorily changes the tax on vapor products from a volumetric tax ($0.27 or $0.09 per milliliter), to 95% of the sale price.

📜House Bill 2071 | Dating apps: Taxes owners of online dating applications.

📜House Bill 1386 | Guns and ammo: Imposes an 11% sales tax on firearms and ammunition.

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