The numbers tell a story Washington’s political class would rather ignore.

Since 2016, SEIU 775, the union representing home-care workers, has poured roughly $30 million into Washington state political campaigns. That makes it the single largest political spender in the state, outpacing not just individual corporations, but entire industries. BP America spent $15.2 million. Coca-Cola gave $10.7 million. Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing, and Airbnb combined barely kept up. Even the Washington Education Association outspent Microsoft.

For years, we have heard that corporate money dominates politics. In Washington state, that claim simply does not hold up. Organized labor is the most powerful political force, and it is exercising that power aggressively.

The results are measurable and alarming.

Between 2021 and 2026, Washington fell from #16 to #45 in the Tax Foundation’s State Tax Competitiveness Index, a dramatic drop that signals a rapidly deteriorating business climate. Meanwhile, the cost of living has surged. The Washington Roundtable now ranks the state among the five most expensive in the country.

This did not happen by accident.

It is the direct outcome of a policy agenda backed by union money and enacted by elected officials who benefit from it: higher minimum wages, expansive paid-leave mandates, new healthcare requirements, and an increasingly complex regulatory environment. Each policy may be well-intentioned in isolation. Together, they are making Washington one of the most expensive places in America to hire workers, grow a company, or invest capital.

The state’s tax structure tells a similar story. Washington long stood out as one of the few states without a traditional income tax, a key advantage shared with faster-growing states like Florida, Texas, and Tennessee. But then lawmakers enacted a new capital gains tax, functionally a tax on income, despite longstanding voter opposition to a broader income tax.

Businesses are responding. Boeing has shifted thousands of jobs out of state. Amazon has reduced parts of its Puget Sound footprint. Smaller businesses are increasingly choosing to expand in Idaho, Nevada, and Texas instead of reinvesting in Washington.

When businesses leave or scale back, job creation slows. Opportunities shrink. The tax base weakens. The workers unions claim to represent are left with fewer pathways to upward mobility.

If policymakers want to reverse course, they need to restore balance. That means reducing the outsized influence of any single political force, including organized labor, and re-engaging with the employers and entrepreneurs who drive job creation.

Because that $30 million is more than a campaign finance statistic.

It is a warning sign.