Feb. 19, 2009

Rep. Hinkle issues statement following today's
preliminary revenue forecast
'We cannot balance this budget on the backs of struggling families,' says Hinkle

Rep. Bill Hinkle, R-Cle Elum, and a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, issued the following statement today regarding the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council's preliminary report:

"Today, we found out what we knew all along: that a bad situation was getting progressively worse.  Here we are in the sixth week of session and we've yet to tackle our state's now nearly $8 billion deficit.  Every day we've waited has been another dollar down the drain.

"And like we suspected all along, the majority party is officially considering tax increases.  To me, this is unconscionable.  We cannot balance this budget on the backs of struggling families.  Our folks are trying to stay afloat as it is.  We're losing jobs left and right; to increase taxes now would be like kicking our families while they're down.

"The citizens of this state elected us to make difficult decisions in good times and bad.  Asking for the taxpayers to clean up our own mess is a disingenuous cop-out.  They're not the ones who spent recklessly.  They're not the ones who couldn't say 'no' to special interest groups and new entitlement programs.

"It is my firm belief that we should NOT be asking taxpayers for another government bailout."

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