|
House passes first
supplemental budget
'This
is a small, but good first step to begin what may be a series of
supplemental budgets,' says Alexander
The Washington State House
of Representatives passed Substitute House Bill 1694, the first
supplemental budget of the 2009 session, this morning.
Rep.
Gary Alexander, the ranking Republican on the House Ways
and Means Committee, was hoping for more opportunity to implement cost
savings. Nevertheless, he said it was a decent start.
"This is a small, but good first step to begin what may be a series of
supplemental budgets passed by the House," Alexander,
R-Olympia, said. "It implements most of the cuts from the
governor's supplemental budget but fails to take into account some
expenditures for which we're already on the hook, like increased costs
for fire suppression and unanticipated state legal fees.
"I support this supplemental budget with the anticipation of being
further involved in the process," Alexander added.
"No
one likes to make unpopular cuts. But we are tired of broken promises to
the people of the state of Washington," said House Republican Leader
Richard DeBolt, R-Chehalis. "We shouldn’t put programs into
effect that we can't fund.
"We
remain concerned that decisions in Olympia continue to be made in an
echo chamber. We have the same people trying to solve the same problem
with the same ideas, and it's not getting done," DeBolt
said. "This is a small first step. We all know that the difficult
decisions are coming. This is about $300 million in reductions out
of a $6 billion dollar problem. So we're going to stay at the table,
continue to try to negotiate and continue to try to change the way we
budget in Washington. We can do it without raising taxes and
without making any more empty promises."
The supplemental budget passed by the House reduces current Near General
Fund appropriations by over $630 million. Savings from program
reductions or efficiencies make up $283 million while savings from
obtained or anticipated increases in federal funds make up $347 million.
Alexander expressed concern that a pattern of relying
too heavily upon federal aid may be developing.
"We keep hearing talk of federal money from the current administration,"
Alexander said. "But while we wait for some final
number, the size of our budget shortfall continues to grow.
Federal taxpayer dollars are not the answer to our state's propensity to
overspend. They are a temporary band aid that will
provide temporary relief for an underlying wound that is still
festering."
House Republicans, led by Alexander, offered two
amendments to the supplemental budget that were voted down by the
majority party.
The first amendment, dubbed "The Truth in Budgeting Amendment" by
Alexander, would have simply appropriated $23 million
found in Gov. Gregoire's supplemental budget proposal for obligated
expenses that the state must pay, such as unanticipated state legal fees
and fire suppression.
The second amendment contained additional costs savings of about $37
million in policy reductions not included in SHB 1694.
"In order to fill a $6 billion budget shortfall, we're going to have to
make these cuts eventually," Alexander said. "We
might as well be honest and upfront with taxpayers and make these cuts
now and gain the cost savings associated with early implementation."
Even
though both Republican amendments failed, Alexander and
DeBolt supported the bill on final passage.
"We need to take
action immediately," Alexander said. "And, even
though this is a small step, it gets us going in the right direction."
# # #
For more information, contact:
Brendon Wold, Senior
Information Officer: (360) 786-7698
|