For 20th District state Rep. Peter Abbarno, R-Chehalis, Washington state's 2026 short legislative session came with ups and downs but also one significant win: a chance to help move along the relocation of the Bob Oke Game Farm and fund capital projects north and south.
Abbarno paid a visit to The Chronicle last week to discuss the year's legislative session after the fact, touching on the hottest subject of the session — the so-called “millionaire’s tax,” the Bob Oke Game Farm and what the lawmaker saw from his seat on the House of Representatives Capital Budget Committee.
The millionaire’s tax
Abbarno, like many of his party members, sees the income tax on those earning more than $1 million a year as one of the biggest losses of the year's legislative session, along with other fee and cost increases. He opposed the income tax altogether this year and now argues even supporters of an income tax wanted more tax relief for low- and middle-income Washingtonians.
“Whether it's last year's largest tax increase or this year's income tax… they really are on the backs of the folks who can least afford it,” Abbarno said. “They didn’t reduce taxes and they didn’t create any broad-based tax relief.”
The passage of an income tax on high earners in the state during this year's legislative session seemingly hinged on this exact issue. Democrat lawmakers went back and forth with Gov. Bob Ferguson, who more than once said the tax relief included in the bill wasn’t enough. That was until the final weeks of the session when he finally gave his stamp of approval to the bill and it was passed out of the legislature after a marathon 24-hour plus debate on the House floor.
The bill expands the state's Working Families Tax Credit, in part, by expanding who is eligible. It also expands tax breaks for businesses with gross income under $600,000 a year and creates a sales tax exemption for certain hygiene items like diapers.
For Abbarno, and many who opposed the tax, the relief offered is not convincing. He added that tax relief offered was not direct tax relief on low-income communities and doesn’t undo the impact of previous tax hikes.
“Trying to address some of the costs that are hitting the general populace would have maybe tried to fix what they consider as this regressive tax system,” Abbarno said. “But none of that actually happened.”
Bob Oke Game Farm
Abbarno was one of two local lawmakers this session at the center of an effort to relocate the Bob Oke Game Farm that has been linked to a local nitrate issue that has contaminated private wells in the Fords Prairie area.
Abbarno and fellow 20th Legislative District Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, both introduced bills this session concerning the Bob Oke Game Farm, with the bill from Orcutt specifically ordering a start to the process of relocating the pheasant-rearing farm. The bill was introduced late compared to others and barely cleared an early deadline that would have killed it early on. It then fell short at the next deadline, seemingly done for the session.
According to Abbarno, he and members of the capital budget committee had their eyes on integrating the bill into the state's capital budget early on. It fits what they look for in the capital budget. It was a specific project that just needed funding to get it off the ground. Directions and timelines that were included in Orcutt’s original bill could be included in the capital budget as a “proviso” or condition.
“Sometimes, those come in as bills, and as capital budget writers like I am, we look at those bills and say that bill is more like proviso language,” Abbarno said. “Because it's a short-term project.”
The capital budget passed with everything Orcutt’s original bill asked for, including requirements that the operator of the farm, Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), return to the legislature for funding to continue relocation in future legislative sessions. That includes $50,000 to develop a list of possible new locations for the farm.
The last hurdle, Abbarno says, is a possible veto from Ferguson. The governor hasn’t come out against the relocation of the farm. In fact, the relocation has bipartisan support, even earning a shoutout from Rep. Lisa Callan, D-Issaquah, in the last moments of the 2026 legislative session. However, Abbarno worries the governor might be more inclined to listen to one of his state agencies, in this case WDFW, than to the legislature.
“I'm hoping that he doesn't,” Abbarno said, “and understands that there are people who got sick.”
For previous reporting by The Chronicle on the Bob Oke Game Farm and the legislative effort to relocate the farm, visit https://tinyurl.com/5xahj9b2.
Capital Budget
For Abbarno, the capital budget is largely his home turf. He serves as an assistant ranking member on the committee and plays a role each year in negotiations with lawmakers as everyone tries to bring home as much capital funding as possible to their own district.
In this session, the 20th Legislative District made out with more than $10 million in funding albeit with a large sum of that funding, $6 million, going south for the construction of Green Mountain school in Woodland. Roughly $3.5 million is coming directly to Lewis County for projects like safety improvements for the Carlisle Lake Dam in Onalaska and a renovation for Lewis County’s Public Health Building.
Abbarno says there were some mild causes for concern this session as lawmakers attempted to redirect money intended for the capital budget to shore up shortcomings in the transportation and operating budgets. But ultimately, he added, the lawmakers working on the budget were able in a bipartisan way to backfill the budget and address any problems.
“Luckily, the capital budget committee recognizes that that's a priority, and we were able to at least still get some of this bond money going,” Abbarno said.
Bills for next year
Abbarno says a bill to allow for the removal of deceased candidates from a ballot will be back next year. The lawmaker sponsored a bill this session inspired by the late Tom Crowson, who nearly won election to the Napavine Fire District Board of Commissioners even after his death last summer.
The bill would allow local governments to remove a name from a ballot after presenting the certified death certificate of the candidate. If too late to remove the name, votes could be left uncounted. The bill aims to avoid costly mandated recounts like the one Lewis County funded after Crowson nearly won.
The bill is relatively straightforward and based on an already established procedure for disqualifying candidates, but it ran out of juice in the senate this session.
“A lot of normal, common sense bills die in short sessions because of timing,” Abbarno said.
For previous reporting by The Chronicle on the bill inspired by Crowson, visit https://tinyurl.com/zfp38n4v.
