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Statement from
Rep. Kirk Pearson on state budget
The
Washington State House of Representatives today passed the
state
operating budget.
Rep. Kirk Pearson, R-Monroe, voted against the budget and sent out the
following statement:
"This budget hurts families. I'm concerned about the cuts to public
safety in the budget. Cutting supervision for dangerous criminals is not
the way we should balance the budget. House Republicans lost the battle
to keep our valuable community corrections officers, which is something
that should worry us all. They serve on the front lines of our public
safety efforts. I believe the citizens are going to speak up about these
critical cuts when our crime rates go up.
"Saving money by going soft on property crime offenders and others we
will no longer be supervising, is balancing the budget on the backs of
victims, and I simply cannot support that.
"I'm also disappointed we did not fix the poor spending habits that got
us into the $9 billion budget deficit. This budget will leave an expensive bill for
the next Legislature to figure out how to pay. I fear the taxpayers and
employers are going to be on the hook for the shortfall yet again.
"This was a challenge we could have faced together and sided with the
people to write the budget in a responsible way that spends based on
priorities and values. Instead we cut the most vulnerable and our
schools.
"Budget writers also raided the capital budget account, in part to patch
the budget. That budget is our job-creator money. We need to get people
to work if we want to turn this economy around. Now, we've wasted that
opportunity to create good-paying jobs that are essential to our
communities.
"We could have done better for the people of Washington."
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For more information, contact:
Bobbi Cussins, Public Information Officer: (360) 786-7252
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