Legislators discuss taxes, education funding and more at town hall
Published 10:15 am Monday, February 23, 2026
As three legislators sat at the front of the room addressing a slew of important topics while their constituents listened in, a group of Washington Education Association (WEA) members stood at the back holding signs that read, “raise revenue, fund our schools.”
Education funding was certainly part of the agenda at the one-hour 41st Legislative District Town Hall held on Feb. 21 at the Mercer Island Community and Event Center, featuring state Sen. Lisa Wellman, Rep. My-Linh Thai and Rep. Janice Zahn. The trio also addressed their priorities, questions and concerns about transportation, housing, taxes, public safety and more.
Wellman drew applause from the crowd after stating that, “I get up every day for the 1.5 million kiddos in our state of Washington to make sure that they have the start in their life with our education system. Which is the paramount duty of the state of Washington in our Constitution to make sure we are fully funding education, and we are not. We can look at all kinds of things that we should be looking at — climate commitment — I appreciate all of that, but if I can go after any money anywhere, I’m going after it (for education).”
Lydia Wheeler from Kirkland was one of the WEA members grasping onto the red signs emblazoned with their slogan in white lettering. The state educator said they attended the event because they want to ensure that the reps see the need to raise revenue for schools and to ensure that public education continues to excel.
“It was so reassuring to hear the support for the millionaire’s tax because we know that that’s one of the ways we need to raise revenue so we can meet the needs of our students,” she added.
Town hall attendee Jana Parker said that citizens need a clear idea of how funding for special education and education in general is going to be executed, and mentioned that the reps’ support of the millionaire’s tax is intertwined with the funding situation. West Seattle resident Parker’s husband formerly worked for the Mercer Island School District and her son used to attend school on the Island.
Zahn noted that the first public hearing for the millionaire’s tax will occur in a finance committee meeting this week. Wellman garnered more applause when she noted about speaking in favor of it on the House floor.
Also in the taxes realm, Thai said she’d like to see reductions on sales and property taxes and the business and occupation (B&O) tax.
On property taxes, Thai noted, “I’m thinking of many of our seniors who live in the district who have fixed income and probably the only thing that you have in terms of wealth to share with your next generation.”
Zahn delved into some bills regarding voting rights and our democracy and one that is focused on “protecting voter registrations, and it updates how Washington keeps its voter rolls accurate and how voter registration challenges work.”
On the transportation front, Zahn said there’s a bill that they’ll be hearing about that aims to lower the legal blood alcohol level for drivers to .05.
Another topic of discussion at the event — which Thai called an elephant in the room — focused on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Thai said there’s a lot of proposed legislation from both the House and the Senate, including establishing data and personal safety protections within areas of public accommodation for all Washington residents, according to SB 5906.
“It certainly brings us back to why we are doing all this legislation, truly about recognizing humanity in people,” she said.
Wellman mentioned one bill that they have passed in the Senate that prevents the use of facial masks: “We think that anybody who is serving in a capacity as a law enforcement, whether it’s federal law or state law, should be visible with their face, their badge number and their name.”
The 41st Legislative District covers the entirety of Mercer Island and Newcastle, with portions of Bellevue, Renton, Issaquah and Sammamish.
