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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
The 2026 legislative session is well underway, and I wanted to update you on some of the top issues we’re facing this session, as well as my work to represent all of you in the 25th legislative district.
The Legislature is in session for 60 days this year. This means proceedings are swift, and key deadlines come much sooner than in the longer 2025 105-day session.
Read below to learn about our state’s continued state affordability concerns, my work to hold offenders accountable while protecting the most vulnerable, and how you can make your voice heard.
Fix Washington Podcast
I went on the latest episode of the House Republicans’ Fix Washington podcast, and I invite you to watch it at the link below.
This was a great opportunity for me to talk about issues affecting our communities, including my frustration about what the majority party is not prioritizing, including:
- Affordability burdens on local governments and working families;
- Holding offenders accountable and protecting the public from crime;
- Keeping children safe from their parents’ dangerous, illicit drug use; and
- Protecting our young people, especially girls, who are inundated with confusing messages about gender. The Legislature needs to consider the latest research on so-called ‘gender-affirming care,’ which shows the opposite of the messages we’ve been hearing that it is beneficial.
Make your voice heard
Please explore our Stop Bad Bills website, where we highlight top bills we are fighting because they increase your costs, decrease public safety, and restrict our democratic process.
When you click on a featured bill, you can take our poll and share your story.
Your experiences and feedback are powerful tools in the fight against harmful policies and can help us Fix Washington.
Our state faces another budget shortfall — despite record tax increases
The Legislature must pass supplemental state budgets this session to fill gaps and account for the latest economic forecasts, since the full two-year budgets passed in 2025.
Our state is facing a $4.3 billion budget deficit, despite the record $9.2 billion in new taxes the majority party passed in 2025. Since that budget passed, revenue forecasts are down $1.69 billion over four years.
As the assistant ranking member on the House Finance Committee, I am keenly aware of the impacts that new or increased taxes and fees and government overspending have on my neighbors and people across our state.
We expect the majority to attempt to enact even more new taxes, make insufficient spending reductions, and introduce budget gimmicks in 2026. All these actions will make life in Washington more expensive.
I voted no on tax increases last year, and I will vote no again this year on harmful and needless taxes and fees.
Tax increases are not necessary
House Republicans have proposed reforms that stabilize the budget, restore essential services, and put people first.
We can balance the budget without raising taxes on working families and cutting services to the most vulnerable.
The budget deficit is not due to a lack of taxes. It’s due to general overspending, relying on temporary federal COVID dollars, and attempting to defer spending hits to a later date.
This graphic shows the massive increase in state spending, which far outpaces population increases and inflation.
Protecting the public — not the criminals — is my priority
I have introduced a package of public safety bills that will make our communities safer by holding offenders accountable.
I am concerned that the majority party in Olympia is not listening to Washingtonians’ priorities on this issue, as many public safety bills are not receiving public hearings. This takes away your right to be heard and to share your concerns and experiences.
Here are my bills, which I am advocating for moving through the legislative process:
House Bill 2146 expands the felony crime of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor to offenders who engage in sexually explicit conduct in front of a child, or force a child to otherwise view this conduct, for the purpose of recording the child’s reaction.
I know it is a distasteful topic, but let me give you an example: A man could masturbate in front of his child while filming the child’s reaction and then post it online.
Unfortunately, this is actually happening, and it exposes a child to behavior they should never see, and that will create lifelong trauma.
This bill received a public hearing in the House Community Safety Committee this week, and I am hopeful it will soon be scheduled for a committee vote.
HB 1027 protects incarcerated women by prohibiting biological males who have been convicted of a sex offense from being housed with biological females in our prisons.
I introduced this bill after learning about cases of women who were sexually assaulted after being forced to share a prison cell with biological men. A woman in prison should not be forced to give up her dignity or safety.
HB 1074 prohibits someone who hits and kills someone with their car, a felony offense, from being eligible to receive a first-time offender waiver.
Under current law, offenders are eligible for a waiver if they weren’t previously convicted of a felony or received a felony deferral, which means a court may give them a shorter jail term or just community custody.
Even if it’s a person’s first felony offense, they should not get off scot-free for killing someone and then fleeing the scene of the crime.
HB 1101 closes a loophole that allows certain vehicular homicide offenses not to be treated as a violent offense. This bill will ensure that all vehicular homicides are treated as violent crimes.
Although vehicular homicide is a felony, the courts have interpreted current law as meaning that vehicular homicide caused by driving carelessly or without regard for others’ safety is a nonviolent offence.
By reclassifying this offense as a violent offense, it becomes ineligible for a first-time offender sentence waiver.
It is unacceptable for someone to have no punishment for killing a person with their car.
HB 1255 gives cities and counties greater power to clean up encampments on public property. Certain large and growing areas will be required, while others can choose to opt in, to adopting an ordinance that prohibits people from camping on public property within 500 feet of schools, walking areas around schools, day care centers, public parks, county courthouses, areas in danger of water contamination, or areas that already have a history of encampments requiring a law enforcement response.
After adopting an ordinance, local governments are eligible to receive grant funds and training and technical assistance from the state to support cleanups.
Parents should not have to worry that their children could step on a used syringe, and all people should be able to enjoy our public spaces and conduct their business without fear for their safety.
Unfortunately, only House Bill 2146 has received any legislative action so far this session, and I will continue to advocate for all these bills.
Fentanyl in the home must be considered a danger to children
And finally, I signed onto my legislative colleague Rep. Travis Couture’s House Bill 1092, which will amend the Keeping Families Together Act.
I supported the Act when it passed in 2021, but never in my wildest dreams did I think it would be interpreted to allow kids to stay in homes where serious drugs like meth and fentanyl were present. The Act was supposed to help keep children out of foster care, especially minority children who were removed from their homes at a higher rate.
These drugs are an imminent and serious harm to children, and the statistics prove it:
- There has been at least a 200% increase in child fatalities in our state since the Keeping Families Together Act passed.
- Just in the first half of 2025, there were nearly 100 child fatalities or near-fatalities.
Our state must protect the little ones while also helping their addicted parents so that families can be reunited when it is safe to do so.
To date, this bill still has not been scheduled for a public hearing.
Thank you for taking the time to read my email update.
If I can assist you in any way, please reach out to me using the contact information below. It’s an honor to serve you.
Sincerely,
Cyndy Jacobsen
