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Statement from Republican
Finance Leader Ed Orcutt
on forecasted decline of state revenue
The
Washington State
Economic and Revenue Forecast Council issued a report today stating
a projected decline of $423.4 million in incoming state revenue for the
2007-09 biennium.
Rep. Ed Orcutt,
a member of the forecast council and ranking Republican on the House
Finance Committee, issued the following statement regarding the report:
"Although the forecasted
drop in state revenue
certainly could affect this year's supplemental operating budget and future
budgets, I am more concerned about how it could impact Washington's taxpayers.
This new forecast is an indicator of our future economy. How will this
affect family budgets? What could this mean in regard to their jobs? My
concerns go much deeper than the impact on the state budget. It is very
much about the economic impact on families.
"We must be very careful
when crafting a new supplemental budget to prevent further economic
impacts to Washington's families. Other than addressing caseloads, we
must hold the line on the budget. We should also re-examine programs
approved in the past to decide if they should be continued or combined
with other programs as a way to reduce costs while providing services.
Any unnecessary additions to this budget would likely result in deeper
deficits in the next biennium and beyond. This would be very devastating
to families.
"Excessive spending the
last three years has set us up for some serious consequences in the
budget -- whether it be this year or the next one or two biennia.
Ultimately, we need to do a better job of balancing budgets across
biennia so that we don't have these up-and-down cycles in our budgeting.
The rainy day fund will help with that, but if revenues continue to fall
before we get enough money into that fund, it's not going to help us
this time. That's why it is essential that we be very cautious in how
the supplemental budget is written, so that the Legislature doesn't add
to the woes of families trying to survive in a troubled economy."
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For more information, contact:
John
Sattgast, Senior Information Officer: (360) 786-7257
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