April 24, 2009

Rep. Hinkle releases statement on Democrat budget
'This budget is a failure.  It doesn't reinvent government, it continues with the status quo. I don't trust this document, and neither will the voters,' says Hinkle

Rep. Bill Hinkle, R-Cle Elum, released the following statement today regarding the Democrat budget:

"I wonder how many legislators have read this bill.  This is a 300-page budget bill that we received just hours before we were supposed to vote.  How can we vote intelligibly and responsibly on something that we haven't even read?

"There's been a lot of talk over the years about the budget being a political party's ultimate 'moral document.'  We've also heard a lot of talk about priorities.  But I have to wonder whose priorities are represented in this budget?  Certainly not mine or the members of my caucus.

"This budget causes unnecessary harm to those that truly need our help -- our developmentally disabled and our elderly.  The majority party has added so many entitlement programs and have stretched our state's safety net so much over the last four years, that now, when times are tough and difficult decisions have to be made, the first ones who suffer are the truly needy.  That's wrong.

"This budget also relies on nearly $5 billion in one-time money.  We're not dealing with the problem, we're punting it to the taxpayers and future legislatures.  We're looking at a possible $10 billion shortfall in two years and we won't have the federal government to bail us out with one-time money.

"This budget is a failure.  It doesn't reinvent government, it continues with the status quo.  It values special interest groups over those in need; it continues expansive and expensive entitlement programs while unnecessarily cutting public safety and education; and it sets us up for tax increases in the future.

"I don't trust this document, and neither will the voters."

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