Add Economy to Budget Spending and you get an incredible two-thirds of the public mostly concerned with purely financial issues. This aligns with the consistent public vote for limiting tax increases in Washington State.

The only "social" issue that has consistent mind share is education.

The one anomaly you highlight, 33%, Transportation, in 2008, might have been cumulative dissatisfaction with approaches to mass transit (?). Perhaps a criticism of the previous administration's approach favoring BRT over rail (?)

Part of the problem is you're mixing three populations.

One: people in rural areas who mistakenly think they're subsidizing everyone else and who think roads are free and so is school.

Two: people in suburban areas who mistakenly think they're subsidizing everyone else and who think roads should be free but that school isn't so they put their kids in private school.

Three: people in urban areas who are subsidizing everyone else but are too polite to say so and mistakenly think everyone else respects them and will pay their fair share.

I have high expectations that our legislators, Democrat and Republican, will do whatever the state's billionaires and biggest business interests tell them to.