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Rep. Orcutt issues statement
on today's preliminary
revenue forecast
'We're throwing in the towel if we think the solution is a
bailout by the taxpayers,' says Orcutt
Rep. Ed
Orcutt, the ranking Republican on the
House Finance
Committee and member of the
Economic and Revenue Forecast Council, issued the following
statement today in response to the council's preliminary findings:
"First and foremost, we cannot let today's news scare us into taking the
easy way out with tax increases. We're throwing in the towel if we
think the solution is a bailout by the taxpayers.
Yes, things look worse today than they did four months ago. But
taking more money away from struggling families right now would be
devastating. People are fighting desperately to pay their food,
energy and housing bills. If we leave families - the very
consumers who help fuel our economy - with less money because of higher
taxes, we're going to make a bad situation worse for everyone involved.
"There is now official talk of asking the taxpayers to bail out state
government. I feel that punting this issue to the voters is an
admission of defeat. We're saying we either don't have the ability
or don't have the courage to make the necessary changes to how
government operates. It's that lack of courage that got us here in
the first place, and it will be that lack of courage that will keep us here
in the future when a another situation like this comes along.
"We have an opportunity before us to change the 'business as usual'
culture of Olympia. We need to change the structure of how state
services are delivered. The agencies tasked with delivering
services need to change from being agency-centric to being
citizen-centric.
"If we think tax increases are the answer, we're on the road to making
things drastically worse for our families, our employers and our economy
."
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For more information, contact:
Brendon Wold, Senior
Information Officer: (360) 786-7698
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