Zero Hour on Taxes and the Midterms at ELC 2026

Sam Jones  |  October 8, 2026

Our 2026 Eastside Leadership Conference is officially complete, and this year’s was a spicy one! Coined “Zero Hour,” ELC 2026 covered the regional policies, budgets, and taxes that fuel our government, and we lasered in on each at the local and state level.

Taking place just 26 days before voters decide on I-645, the initiative to repeal the state's new tax on incomes over $1 million, over 500 of our members and community leaders joined for the conference.

Bellevue Mayor Mo Malakoutian kicked things off with a love letter to the Eastside, followed by a recap of King County happenings from Executive Girmay Zahilay. He joked of the steep dropoff in charm levels up on stage throughout the day following the Mayor’s remarks, and looked back at his first year in office.

State Budget: What will the 2027-29 shortfall be?

We kept things in the financial realm with the first panel of the day, which featured some of the state legislators responsible for developing Washington’s budget. Rep. Travis Couture, ranking Republican on House Appropriations, put the 2027-29 shortfall at $2 billion to $4 billion.

Sen. June Robinson and Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon declined to name a number, whereas Sen. Chris Gildon said shortfall estimates move with what the majority party wants to fund, and urged the room to ask nonpartisan staff. Gildon also described an alternative budget he said closed a $6.5 billion gap with no cuts and no new taxes, whereas Robinson, who chairs Senate Ways and Means, tied a decade of budget growth to the McCleary and Trueblood lawsuits and rising costs.

Watch the video recording of the budget panel here.

Breakout Sessions: Homelessness, Small Biz, & a 17-Vote Differential

The group then bopped up to the fourth floor of the Meydenbauer Center for breakout sessions, with the first set covering regional homelessness and small business struggles, and the second discussing economic development efforts across the state, as well as a debate between Rep. Amy Walen and Councilmember Jessica Forsythe who are running a razor-thin race against one another. Watch the full debate here.

In the small business session, Apollo Fuhriman of the SBA Office of Advocacy shared one brewpub owner’s permitting story.

Over in the economic development session, Sam Cho, economic activation advisor to the King County Executive, closed out the panel.

Back on the Mainstage: Mayors, Millionaires Tax, & More

Downstairs the conference continued, starting back up on the Main Stage with our “Strong Mayors, Straight Talk,” panel with Mayors Mullet, Backus, Ralph, and Pavone, moderated by Seattle Chamber’s Joe Nguyen. Watch that full discussion here.

The spice level ramped WAY UP with our most newsworthy session of the day, “Tax the Rich?” as we dove directly into the millionaires tax with top proponents and opponents of the initiative. We would describe to you what went down, but honestly, y’all should watch for yourself. See the full panel video here, and check out the KOMO News coverage here.

Closing things out was Charlie Cook, founder of The Cook Political Report, who gave us his midterms musings before sitting down with our President & CEO, Joe Fain, for a practical spin.

A huge thank you goes out to all who came to ELC 2026, our sponsors for helping us pull this event off, Bonnie Leung Photography for capturing the day, KOMO News and TVW for filming, and our 40-something speakers that provided such insightful content.

Photos by Bonnie Leung Photography.

Not quite sure how we’re gonna top that one, but we sure are going to try!