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House budget proposal worse
than governor’s
No
‘sunshine’, no rainy-day fund – no relief for taxpayers, says Alexander
Rep. Gary Alexander
says the $33.4 billion near General Fund operating budget proposal
released by House Democrat leaders today (House
Bill 1128) is even more disappointing than
the governor’s December proposal.
“This budget is like the governor’s in that both would turn a $2 billion
surplus into a $2 billion deficit within two to three years. But the
House budget goes downhill faster. It doesn’t include a rainy-day fund,
it would spend almost $300 million more in policy adds, and it uses $450
million in gimmicks to get around the spending limit.
"The House Democrats will bring their budget to the House floor on
Friday. We’ll be asked to vote on it before most members on either side
of the aisle have time to read through the version that will be approved
by the Appropriations committee tomorrow.
“You’d never know the economy is cooling the way this budget spends. We
just received $126 million more dollars in revenue on top of the $200
million in caseload savings. The revenue increase is actually an
increase of $144 million in this biennium and a decrease of $18 million
in the 2007-09 biennium. The Democrats spend all of the $326 million
one-time funds on ongoing expenditures. Not one penny is used to retire
our unfunded pension liabilities or saved for the future.
"On top of that we see no hint that the original Priorities of
Government process was involved, nothing that resembles the Truth in
Budgeting principles we proposed, and no serious effort to find any
savings or efficiencies other than doing away with gain sharing.
“It amazes me that the smallest little bill can take weeks to reach the
floor after coming out of committee, while the biggest bill of the
session is rushed through like this budget will be. Most of the members
of the House won’t see the actual budget bill as it comes out of
committee until Friday morning, if not later, which will prevent them
from casting a truly informed vote.
"If the Democrats really wanted to bring this bill into the light, they
could delay the floor vote until Monday or Tuesday without interfering
with the Senate’s plans or forcing an extension of the session. And it’s
not credible to suggest that the recommendations of the two budget
subcommittees – which were never binding – are a substitute for
sunlight.
“The slower economic growth predicted this past week only reinforces the
wisdom of a rainy day fund, and that makes me wonder: did the governor
do her absolute best to convince the House Democrats to create a rainy
day fund, or did they just ignore her?
“The Democrats got lucky this past biennium. The strong growth in the
real estate and construction sectors saved them by enabling their
double-digit spending increases. But that growth is a thing of the past,
and from all indications a budget deficit is in our future if they
maintain this approach to the budget. The families of our state deserve
better leadership than that.”
(Rep. Alexander,
R-Thurston County, is Republican leader on the House Appropriations
Committee and chief budget negotiator for House Republicans.)
# # #
Contact: Rep. Gary Alexander (360)
786-7990
Eric Campbell, House Republican Communications (360) 786-7720
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