| |
Democrats out of line with record budget,
censorship, say 20th District lawmakers
Reps. Gary
Alexander and
Richard DeBolt say it’s fitting that the House Democrats set a new high
for overspending with their budget today, considering Democrats set a
new low Thursday by prohibiting Republicans from using certain words and
phrases when communicating with their constituents about the budget.
The 2005-07 supplemental budget Democrats passed lifts government
spending by more than $4 billion over the previous biennium to more than
$27 billion. It spends more than 99 percent of available tax dollars,
including the $1.6 billion in revenue the state expects to collect
beyond what was expected for the biennium.
Alexander is disappointed by the Democrat decision to exceed the state
spending limit. He also objects to the Democrat decision to funnel
hundreds of millions into separate, unprotected accounts outside of the
reserve and claim those accounts represent savings.
“You can’t count a bucket of money as spending to calculate a spending
limit, then count that same bucket of money as savings by saying it’s
being set aside for a specific purpose down the road. Yet the majority
party does that in this budget,” said Alexander, R-Thurston County, who
is budget leader for House Republicans.
“When they adopted the two-year budget last year the Democrats said it
was a 'forward-looking' budget. Apparently they didn't look ahead far
enough because here they are 10 months later adding hundred of millions
of dollars in new spending," said DeBolt, R-Chehalis, who is House
Republican Leader.
“This defies the purpose of a supplemental budget, which is to make
midcourse adjustments in our two-year budget cycle. This is a complete
do-over, and the worst part is we can't afford this level of spending.
This budget, with its 17.4 percent increase, sets the taxpayers up for a
$600 million deficit by next biennium. It's a recipe for a tax increase,
and we've already witnessed the majority party's willingness to raise
taxes.”
Democrat complaints about a press release Alexander issued Tuesday about
the budget led the Democrat-selected chief clerk of the House to take on
the role of censor Thursday. Republican legislators’ press releases
about the budget couldn’t contain certain words or phrases and had to be
reviewed by House counsel.
“I wish they’d have done a better job of controlling their spending
instead of trying to restrict our right, as the opposition, to point out
the many flaws in their budget,” Alexander said. “The Democrats wrote
the budget without our input. They have the majority and can pass any
legislation without our consent, as they did with this budget today.
“Is our desire for truth in budgeting such a threat to them that my
words had to be censored? If you propose a budget with the largest
spending increase in state history, shouldn’t you be prepared to defend
it fair and square? I’ve got news for the majority party – the voters
are going to get wind of what it’s doing even if gag orders are put on
us.”
This budget is a perfect example of why Republicans are calling for the
passage of their Truth in Budgeting package of bills, Alexander added.
“Truth and transparency and trust go hand in hand. Two of those
qualities are missing from the process that created this budget. And
that’s enough to damage the third,” he said.
# # #
For more information, contact:
Brendon Wold, Public
Information Officer: (360) 786-7698
|
|