Minority Republicans in the Washington Legislature began warning three or four years ago that the state's budget was not sustainable, state Sen. Mike Hewitt told AWB at our weekly Lobby Lunch meeting.
"No one would listen," said Hewitt, R-Walla Walla. Some 40 percent of the current $2.6 billion budget shortfall is self-inflicted, he said. "It should not have happened."
Now that it has, majority Democrats are talking about raising taxes to plug the budget hole -- and Republicans don't have enough votes to stop them, he said.
Hewitt was joined by Sen. Linda Evans Parlette, R-Wenatchee, and Rep. Richard DeBolt, R-Chehalis, for a discussion that centered on the budget crisis, job-creation and taxes.
Washington has a spending problem, not a revenue problem, Parlette said. As evidence, she said Washington's state budget rose 33 percent, or more than $8 billion, during Gov. Chris Gregoire's first four-year term.
That's more than it rose during Gov. Gary Locke's eight years as governor, she said.
Even so, "We're going to see tax increases this year," DeBolt said.
Some light was shed yesterday when Democrats unveiled a plan that includes amending Initiative 960, which requires a two-thirds vote in the Legislature to raise taxes.
Other highlights of the luncheon:
- Regarding jobs, DeBolt said Washington has lost approximately 170,000 private-sector jobs during the recession, but it has gained roughly 8,300 government jobs, according to the state Employment Security Department.
- Washington has an opportunity to attract companies from California and Oregon as long as leaders here don't make the same mistakes as those states, Hewitt said.
- Repealing tax exemptions that prompted companies to make capital investments sends the wrong message to other businesses that may be considering a move to Washington, Hewitt said.
- Workers' compensation reform will not happen this year, Hewitt said.
