Michelle Caldier Talks About Her Decade on the Job

Rep. Michelle Caldier, R-26

WA State House Republicans

26th LD Delegates at Work for the KP

Some of the new funding and new laws the entire local delegation supported in the 2025 legislative session.

$42 million to complete the West Sound Tech project in Bremerton.

$13.56 million for State Route 3 widening in Gorst.

$1,030,000 toward building a Gig Harbor sports field.

$211,000 for a Key Center emergency backup power system to keep water running during power outages.

$103,000 to repair the west wall of the Key Peninsula Civic Center.

Rep. Michelle Caldier sponsored and passed House Bill 1615, prohibiting population-based assumptions when determining a water system’s classification, ensuring fairer compliance and lower costs for Class B well users. Sen. Deb Krishnadasan and Rep. Adison Richards both voted for it.

Sen. Krishnadasan sponsored and passed Senate Bill 5655, redefining the occupancy load of a childcare center in an existing building to be based only on the area where services are provided, moving a daycare facility on the KP closer to reality. Reps. Caldier and Richards voted for it.

Rep. Richards sponsored and passed House Bill 1902 to help streamline permitting for transportation projects, ensuring that such projects are built faster and cheaper. Sen. Krishnadasan and Rep. Caldier voted for it.

Rep. Michelle Caldier (R-26th, Gig Harbor) was elected to the state House in 2014. She completed her 11th legislative session April 27.

“The crazy part is from where we were when I first came in, to where we are now,” Caldier told KP News. “It is a night and day difference.”

When she started, Republicans and Democrats were almost evenly divided in both the House and Senate. The Legislature has 147 members: 49 senators and 98 representatives. Democrats now control both chambers and the governor’s office, with 30 senators and 59 representatives.

“When I first came in, we all had to work together to get anything passed,” Caldier said. “Here we are now, and they have supermajorities, and day one of the session, the House changed the 132-year-old precedent and voted to silence us with a simple majority.”

The House voted to eliminate a rule established in 1893, reducing a two-thirds threshold to end debate on a bill or amendment to a simple majority.

“They did that during the parents’ bill of rights,” Caldier said, referring to debate on Senate Bill 5181 to revise citizen Initiative 2081, passed last year. Democrats said the bill would clarify wording in the initiative to align with state and federal laws governing student privacy; Republicans said it would rescind parental rights. House Democrats voted to cut off debate and stop amendments in April after it was approved in the Senate. Rep. Adison Richards, also from the 26th LD, was the only Democrat to vote against it.

“I think that they were going to do it more, but luckily, because we knew what we were kind of up against, the new floor team worked with the parliamentarian to get us geared up on how to fight back within the rules,” Caldier said. “When they silenced us, we did a couple of procedural moves by making them do oral calls, stuff like that, and we were able to negotiate in that way.”

Similarly, Republicans were left out of creating the operating budget, one of three the Legislature is responsible for, including separate capital and transportation budgets.

Faced with a deficit the governor’s office put at $16 billion, Democrats approved an operating budget of $77.8 billion over the next two years, a 6.5% increase. It includes cuts to higher education, reproductive health care, and legal aid, and delays improvements to the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program until 2030, but adds spending on K-12 education, long-term care, and $100 million for a police force hiring program.

It’s paid for by $9.4 million in excise taxes, taxes on capital gains and emission credits, and a four-year 0.5% surcharge on some businesses with income over $250 million. Democrats dropped an attempt to repeal the 1% limit on property tax growth approved by Washington voters in 2001.

The proposal, in House Bill 2049, would have allowed an increase of up to 3% for a state levy that supports schools, and for cities and counties, as well as special-purpose districts like Fire District 16.

“In all honesty, I don’t know if the people who actually voted for the budget know what they voted for,” Caldier said. “They did all the negotiations in private and gave us one day to vote. It’s 1,300 pages, and even the Governor and his whole team get 20 days to digest it.”

Gov. Ferguson signed the operating budget May 20.

“I don’t think that the taxes put forward are what the people want,” Caldier said. “I think everybody can agree that we should have a medical safety net for people who can’t afford health care coverage, but then we’re paying for laser hair therapy for transgendered inmates. We’re paying for studies in Africa on environmental issues. We’re giving grants to people whose families may have been affected by redlining. I don’t know if the average person, especially in my district, would say, Yes, please cut Medicaid for the nursing homes so that we can give $150,000 to someone whose family member may have been affected by redlining.”

Washington State pays for medically necessary transgender care for inmates through Apple Health Medicaid, according to the Department of Corrections. The State also offers aid and scholarships for student study in Africa and elsewhere through Washington State University and the University of Washington. The Covenant Homeownership Program was passed in 2023 to provide a 0% loan for down payment and closing cost assistance to eligible first-time homebuyers affected by housing discrimination. It was modified when House Bill 1696 was signed into law by Gov. Ferguson to include loan forgiveness after five years for buyers earning up to 80% of the area median income. 

"That turned that loan into a $150,000 grant; they increased the ($100 recording) fees for everybody else who buys a house to cover that," Caldier said.

“Our paramount duty is taking care of K through 12 education,” Caldier said. “I feel like maybe we should do our paramount duty and leverage as much federal dollars that we possibly can, and then you look at the rest of the budget with what’s left over.

“We’re gonna have a whole new McCleary situation (with the state being sued to fully fund public schools). Just remember this five years from now when we’re getting sued again. Just say, ‘Yup, Michelle called it.’ ”

After 10 years as a state representative, Caldier has filed to run against Sen. Deb Krishnadasan (D-26th, Gig Harbor).

“I actually really love my colleagues in the House, and the only reason why I’m running for the Senate is because we need to break up that super majority,” she said. “I feel like where the Democrats were at 10 years ago is more like an Adison (Richards) or a Derek Kilmer, but the shift is so far to the left that I don’t think that’s what the state wants. You’ve got to realize, Seattle elected a Socialist.

“I don’t like the trajectory the state is on. I like Deb as a person. I don’t like her voting record, but I have nothing against her. I just think we need to turn our state around.”

Editor's Note: This article has been updated to clarify modifications made to the Covenant Home Ownership Program by HB 1696.