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House Republican leaders issue statement on Democrat budget
'We haven't fixed the problem.
This budget is being held together with duct tape and broken promises,'
says Alexander
House
Republican Leader Richard DeBolt, R-Chehalis, and House Ways and
Means Ranking Member
Rep.
Gary Alexander, R-Olympia, issued the following statements today in
response to the House Democrat budget:
Rep. Richard DeBolt:
"The Democrat budget does not reflect the priorities of the citizens of
Washington. It fails to protect our most vulnerable and does not
meet the educational needs of our children, especially those in poor
districts and rural communities. Furthermore, the Democrat budget
burdens the taxpayers and future generations under the weight of
tremendous debt and tax increases, with very little to show for it.
"The lack of priorities and the emphasis on special interests is the
type of budgeting that resulted in a 33 percent increase in state
government spending over the last four years. It is what led to this
current fiscal crisis. This budget repeats the same mistakes that
have made government a growing burden on working families who are making
hard decisions of their own.
"The Democrat budget does not meet
the needs of Washington taxpayers because it was the product of
one-party rule written without the collaboration of Republicans who
fought for a responsible sustainable budget. Republicans continue
to believe that government has enough of the taxpayers' money to fully
fund education, protect our most vulnerable and control state spending
without the need for tax increases."
Rep. Alexander:
"We haven't fixed the problem. This budget is being held together
with duct tape and broken promises.
"We've cobbled together a house-of-cards budget that uses too much
one-time money to backfill excessive spending, makes more promises we
won't be able to keep, ties the hands of future legislators, and sets us
up for a massive budget shortfall the next time we have to write a
budget.
"Once again, rather than making long-lasting changes to the budget by
finding ways to deliver services more effectively and efficiently, the
majority party is opting for the quick fix -- the easy way out.
You don't have to be Nostradamus to predict our state's future: we will be
facing a shortfall just as big if not bigger in two years because the
Legislature is unwilling to admit its past mistakes.
"With this budget, the majority party is simply pushing the 'pause'
button in their desire to grow government. So many of their cuts
are temporary. They're just temporarily suspending their
overspending habits and then they promise to 'catch up' on many of their cuts
in the future. But what happens when the state's economy doesn't
catch up? Do our families get to catch up on their losses?
We're tying the hands of future Legislatures and once again making
promises we can't keep.
"This budget has not gone through the priorities of government
process, period. Our developmentally disabled, our elderly -- our
citizens who are truly vulnerable -- are bearing a disproportionate
level of cuts in this budget. They're also making deep cuts to
education and public safety while leaving too many other entitlement
programs relatively unscathed. Whose priorities does this budget
represent? Certainly not mine or those of my House Republican
colleagues!"
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For more information, contact:
Brendon Wold, Senior
Information Officer: (360) 786-7698
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