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Olympia Office:
419 John L.
O'Brien Bldg.
P.O. Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600
Phone: (360) 786-7844
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Toll-Free Legislative Hotline
1-800-562-6000
Website
www.houserepublicans.wa.gov/Schmick |
Committees:
Health & Human Services (Ranking)
Higher Education (Asst. Ranking)
Ways & Means
Rules |
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April 3, 2009
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
This week, both the House and Senate finally released
their budget plans. I'd first like to tell you
that being in the minority party in Olympia doesn't give
me much opportunity to have an influence on the details
of the budget. We were told from the beginning
that the solution to our budget deficit would be a
bipartisan one, even though the policies and
overspending of the last four years were not.
One example of my frustration with the House
budget is the fact that nearly $5 billion of
one-time money is spent as a short-term fix.
The one-time money comes from a variety of areas
– one specific area is a $780 million in cash
transfers from the state's capital
(construction) budget. This is the first
time we are using borrowed money from a
completely separate budget to pay for gaps in an
operating budget.
The capital budget is
the state's construction budget. It is
funded mostly from state-issued bonds. By
using capital budget money – money that is
acquired through bond sales and paid back over
25 years with interest – we're in essence
placing daily expenses on the state's credit
card which is not a sustainable budget practice.
More importantly, we are taking these capital
budget funds and putting them into the House
operating budget.
Many of my constituents
have responded to some of my emails and
electronic newsletters by asking me how I would
address this crisis. Some of the
suggestions that I would support would include:
• Even though unpopular, not only should
we freeze state employee salaries, I would
recommend a three percent pay cut across the
board for all state employees. |
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The Lustig Family from Diamond.
Rep. Judy
Warnick may claim them as her kin, but they're
MY constituents. |
• Eliminate General Assistance Unemployed (GAU)
funding. We are one of only 14 states in the
nation that give additional money to Temporary
Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). Our
neighboring states -- Idaho, Oregon and Montana -- do
not provide any GAU funds in addition to the TANF money.
Many say, and I would agree, that our state has become a
magnet for folks to receive TANF and GAU funds.
•
Deport illegal alien offenders (currently incarcerated
in Washington State) of non-violent crimes.
• Do
not provide health care to people in Washington State
who reside here illegally. I believe, we need to
cover our citizens first.
• Abolish the paid
family leave program which requires businesses to pay
employees while on family leave who are absent from work
during the birth or adoption of a child, to care for a
sick family member or other health-related issue.
• Privatize state liquor stores and contract with
private companies – allow alcohol to be sold by private
businesses.
These are just a few ideas that may
not have an enormous price tag attached to them
individually, but once we start adding them up, the
state would begin to realize some real cost savings.
The cumulative savings of these items I've mentioned
here are in excess of a billion dollars.
I have
spent hours reviewing statewide programs, trying to
"crunch" numbers and offer viable solutions to help
solve the state's budget situation. I believe we
can balance the budget without increasing taxes and
making drastic cuts to many vital programs that our
state has the responsibility to provide to its citizens.
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I want you to know that I firmly believe
that any tax increase is a bad idea. We're
in the midst of a consumer-led recession; taking
more money out of consumers' pockets makes
absolutely no sense. I believe we can
educate our children, protect our most
vulnerable citizens and balance the budget
without raising taxes on hard-working families.
I appreciate your input as we work together
to make Washington a better place to live, work
and raise a family.
Sincerely,
Joe
Schmick |
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Rep. Schmick with Legislative Pages
Benjamin Taff and Justin Parker from Othello
High School. |
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State Representative
9th Legislative District |
Teleforum was a huge success!
My thanks to all of you
who participated in last night's teleforum. We had
several hundred participants with around 30 specific
questions from callers. Topics ranged from the
budget to education, environmental regulations to
studded snow tires. It was great to hear so many
familiar voices. It would have taken a half dozen
traditional town halls, several hundred miles on the
car, and a few weekends to interact and communicate with
as many people as we did last night.
Again, thank
you for being an involved citizenry. Your input
makes my job of representing your views and values much
easier.
Visit my Website for further information
and news
You can always visit my Web site for updated
information and to contact me via e-mail. You can
also sign-up for my E-newsletter by going to
my home
page and clicking on the "sign up here" link on the left
side of the page.
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For more
news and information, visit my website at
www.houserepublicans.wa.gov/Schmick
If you would rather not
receive legislative e-mail updates, please
click here and send me an e-mail.
In the subject line, please include the words UNSUBSCRIBE ME. |
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