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House Republican budget
leader releases statement on
revenue forecast
'While I don't think a special session is
warranted at this time, I feel strongly that budget writers need to be
hammering out the details to a supplemental budget right now,' says
Alexander
The
Washington State Economic and Revenue
Forecast Council issued its updated revenue forecast, showing state
revenues down for the 2009-11 biennium by $231 million with total
projected General Fund revenue for the biennium at $29.6 billion. For
the remainder of the 2007-09 biennium, revenue decreased by $7 million
with total projected General Fund revenue at $27.7 billion.
The
budget leader for the Washington State House Republicans,
Rep. Gary Alexander, R-Olympia, released the
following statement regarding the updated revenue forecast:
"If
there are any positive feelings about today's forecast they are tempered
with a dose of economic and employment reality that is all too real for
our families.
"While
it may appear to some that our state economy is stabilizing, too many of
our citizens are out of work. We continue to lose jobs, we're spending
more money than we're taking in, and we're continuing on the path toward
another multi-billion dollar shortfall in the next state budget.
"I, and
my House Republican colleagues, continue to believe significant and
immediate steps are needed to restructure how our state delivers
services and how we pay for those services.
"During
the last legislative session, we offered
legislative solutions to help bring accountability, sustainability
and transparency to the budget process.
"Our
legislation included things like requiring fiscal notes to be
established before a bill can pass, requiring a five-day waiting period
before voting on the budget, and reestablishing a
constitutionally-protected spending limit. These are all ideas that have
broad public support but were met with lukewarm interest by the majority
party, even in the midst of dire economic times.
"We
will continue to push for these proposals while we
bring new ideas to the table on how government can perform its core
functions more efficiently and effectively. We cannot continue operating
government in the same manner while expecting different results. There
must be change.
"Also,
while I don't think a special session is warranted at this time, I feel
strongly that budget writers need to be hammering out the details to a
supplemental budget right now. We need to be voting on a supplemental
budget the first week of the 2010 session.
"The
sooner we act, the less drastic the cuts in the budget need to be. This
is a lesson the Legislature didn't learn last session as budget writers
wasted time and opportunity to the tune of billions of dollars. I hope
the same mistake is not made again."
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For more information, contact:
Brendon Wold, Senior
Information Officer: (253) 973-0505
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