| |
Senate Republican
supplemental budget proposal the
most responsible approach
State Senate Republicans
and House Democrats recently unveiled their proposed supplemental
budgets and they differ greatly in terms of spending, according to 4th
District Reps. Lynn Schindler and
Larry Crouse.
Both lawmakers have
concerns that the House Democrat proposal would send the state on a
spending spree and leave too little of the taxpayers’ money in reserves
– an approach they call risky and irresponsible.
“The House Democrat budget would leave the state with less than one
percent in reserves,” said Crouse, R-Spokane Valley. “We need to be
responsible as elected leaders. Past economic problems, uncertain
revenue streams, and natural disasters have shown us we need a
sufficient rainy-day fund.”
“Every time the
Legislature has adopted a budget that is not sustainable, the state ends
up with a large deficit to contend with in the next budget cycle,” said
Schindler, R-Spokane. “The House Democrat budget sets us up for just
such a scenario, which could very easily result in a call for new taxes.
We can’t let that happen – families and job-providers just cannot
shoulder a bigger tax burden.”
If the House Democrat supplemental budget is adopted, it’s projected the
general fund shortfall could be as much as $1 billion in the next
biennium.
By contrast, Schindler and Crouse believe the Senate Republican
supplemental budget proposal is a more responsible approach that
protects reserves for the future.
“The Senate Republican
budget looks for savings, controls spending and protects taxpayers,”
said Schindler. “It mirrors the fiscally responsible approach we took
with last year’s biennial spending plan.”
“In this time of economic recovery we should be very careful about our
spending,” said Crouse. “It’s irresponsible to over spend now and have
it on the backs of our families and employers.”
The state’s supplemental budget is a mid-course adjustment of the
general fund, which is determined every two years, or biennium. The
state is only one-third of the way through the current biennium, which
ends June 30, 2005.
The Senate plans to debate its budget Wednesday morning, while the House
will debate its budget Wednesday evening. Differences between the
budgets must be worked out before a final budget is sent to the
governor.
March 11 is the last day of the 60-day 2004 legislative session.
# # #
For more information, contact:
Brendon Wold, Public
Information Officer: (360) 786-7698
|
|