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13th District
representatives try to stop
spending limit increase on House budget
Reps.
Bill Hinkle and Janéa Holmquist voted against Senate Bill 6896
that would adjust the state expenditure limit in order to accommodate
the largest spending increase in history as proposed by the majority
Democrats. Passing SB 6896 is necessary in order to pass an additional
$1.3 billion in general fund spending as planned in the state operating
budget.
“The majority has seemed to abandon prudent budgeting and proposed an
increase in spending of 17.5 percent,” said Hinkle, R-Cle Elum. “We will
be into the red by the next biennium, leaving a hole of at least $600
million. The majority will then have to raise taxes to balance the
budget.”
The House Democrat’s budget is the largest spending increase in state
history. According to budget analysts, their budget leaves only $216
million as an ending balance.
House Republicans claim that the majority’s message of $825 million in
reserve is not actually in a savings account. Money has been shifted
into special accounts where it will be held for future spending.
“Without constitutional safeguards, big spenders will blow past the
spending limit year after year, without a simple majority,” Holmquist,
R-Moses Lake said. “Where is the saving in this budget? You can’t spend
a dollar and also claim to be saving it. Shifting money into various
accounts isn’t the same as putting it into a reserve.”
“When the budget passed last year, the majority called it ‘forward
thinking.’ So why are we completely rewriting the spending limit less
than a year later? This state’s citizens understand what it’s like to
live within a budget. Yet the Legislature can’t seem to do it from one
year to the next,” Holmquist said.
“I heard the phrases ‘spending restraint’ and ‘frugality’ at the
beginning of session,” Hinkle said. “This budget is far from frugal as
we blow the lid off the spending limit.”
ESSB 6896 passed the House 51-47.
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For more information, contact:
John Handy, Assistant
Communications Director - (360) 786-5758
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