This article was published at The Washington Policy Center  on Oct 6, 2026: https://www.washingtonpolicy.org/publications/detail/is-mccleary-really-to-blame-for-washingtons-budget-woes During a recent debate on repealing the state income tax, opponents of I-645 claimed that the state budget's rapid expansion is driven by the Supreme Court’s McCleary decision. K–12 funding has grown rapidly since that decision, but since 2019, spending on everything else has expanded nearly three times as fast, accounting for nearly three-quarters of total state budget growth. The Supreme Court formally ended its oversight of the McCleary decision in June 2018. McCleary enforced the state’s … [Read more...]