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Olympia Office:
426-A
Legislative Bldg.
P.O. Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600
Phone: (360) 786-7832
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Toll-Free Legislative Hotline
1-800-562-6000
Website
www.houserepublicans.wa.gov/Armstrong |
Committees:
Appropriations Subcommittee on General Gov't and Audit Review
(Ranking)
Rules (Alternate)
State Government and Tribal Affairs
Transportation |
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March 30, 2007
Dear
friends and neighbors,
Only 24 days
remaining of the scheduled 105-day legislative
session in Olympia. And yes, I am counting down
the days. It seems like for every day majority
Democrats are in session, the more damage that
is being done to our state and to taxpayers. In
some respects, taxpayers would be better off if
we just closed the doors today and came home.
Mark Twain once
said, "No man's
life, liberty, or property are safe while the
Legislature is in session." Even
though he spoke those words in the 1800s, he'd
likely repeat them if he was standing on the
Capitol steps in Olympia today.
Earlier this
week, the majority party approved a $33.4
billion state operating budget that blows away
the entire $2 billion surplus, expands
government by 3,800 new state employees, spends
$2.2 billion on new programs, and by the
governor's budget writers' own projections, will
send us spiraling into a $2 billion deficit
within two to three years. The unbridled
spending of today will become the taxpayers'
bill of tomorrow. And even our kids will be
paying for this budget long into the future.
Today is the
deadline for the House committees to consider
policy bills from the Senate. All Senate policy
bills that have not been reported from committee
by the end of today are considered dead for the
session. The deadline is the same for House
bills under consideration in Senate committees.
After today, much
of our remaining time will be spent on the House
floor considering Senate bills. We will do this
until April 13. The final nine days of the
session will be spent working out differences on
remaining legislation, including the three major
budgets: operating, capital construction and
transportation.
If you'd like
more information or would like to contact me, go
to my website at:
www.houserepublicans.wa.gov/Armstrong.
It is an honor to
serve you!
Rep. Mike Armstrong
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House
Majority operating budget plan adds 3,800 new
state employees
Take the entire
population of the city of Chelan (3,600) and add
200 more people. That's how many state employees
that would be added in the 2007-09 state
operating budget approved Monday by House
Democrats.
It's like creating a
city of new state government employees -- 3,800.
And just as a city needs infrastructure,
taxpayers will be saddled with all of the costs
associated with these new employees -- salaries,
health care, pensions, new offices, office
equipment, transportation, and the list goes on
and on.
Since Gov. Gregoire
took office in 2005, spending in the state
operating budget has grown by a whopping $8.2
Billion - with a "B."
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I don't understand why we are adding new
employees when we're not even taking care of the
ones we now have. There's a $4 billion gap in
our state pension system that this budget
doesn't even come close to address. Plus, this
budget proposes to eliminate gain sharing -- a
promise made to state employees and retirees.
Gain sharing is
triggered by investment returns on the pension
trust fund. If the average rate of investment
return over the previous four fiscal years is
more than 10 percent, one half of the excess
return is paid out in a gain sharing benefit.
This promise is being broken in this budget.
This budget is
also punishing state employees who are not union
members. If you are a state employee and a
member of a union, you'll get your
cost-of-living pay increase July 1.
If you're not a union
member, you have to wait until September 1.
This, in my opinion, is creating a dual class of
state employees. It's blatantly unfair.
And when this dual system was first set up in
the budget two years ago, it actually cost the
Department of Personnel more money to reprogram
their system than it would have to just outright
pay the COLAs to all employees at the same time,
regardless of union status.
As I said in my
floor speech Monday, "What is there to vote FOR
in this budget?"
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"Here we are, we've got gain-sharing, we've got
salaries that we are going to divide up and pay
in two different sources, we're not paying back
the pensions, we are hiring 3,800 new employees
with this budget and we are not taking care of
the existing employees.
We came in with a
$1.9 billion surplus, we've blown through that,
and we've added more money to it. We are
credit-card spending. We've increased our
spending over a four-year period by 33 percent,
an $8.2 billion increase over a four-year
period. What is there to vote for in this
budget?"
Rep. Mike Armstrong - Floor
Speech, March 26, 2007
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Come visit
our state Capitol |
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It was fun to greet our local Scout
group from Wenatchee who visited the
state Capitol this week. Standing with
me is Cub Scout Jonathan Higgins, Eagle
Scout Justin Terry, and their fathers,
Jim Terry and Jay Higgins. |
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It's spring -- one of my favorite times
of the year. It's also a great time to
visit the Washington State Capitol.
The blossoms
are out on the cherry trees surrounding
the buildings on the Capitol campus. The
yellow tulips along the walkways are in
full bloom. An occasional rain keeps the
grass a rich green color. It's amazingly
beautiful.
This is
YOUR Capitol and if you haven't had an
opportunity to visit, I'd like to invite
you.
Tours are
held every hour inside the Capitol dome.
The campus is filled with statues and
memorials honoring people who have
served our state. And now that the
Legislature is in session, you have the
opportunity to see lawmakers in action.
However, we are scheduled to adjourn
April 22. Even so, tours are held year
round at the Capitol.
If you'd
like to visit, give my office a call and
we'll be glad to provide you with some
information which will make your visit
worthwhile. |
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For more
news and information, visit my website at
www.houserepublicans.wa.gov/Armstrong
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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