<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Friday, March 29, 2024
March 29, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

Gregoire calls for decisiveness, compassion

State of State speech comes as lawmakers wrestle with $2.6 billion deficit

By Kathie Durbin
Published: January 13, 2010, 12:00am

Gov. Chris Gregoire called on state lawmakers Tuesday to be both decisive and compassionate as they look for ways to address a $2.6 billion budget deficit while at the same time supporting education and spurring investment in new jobs.

But she stopped short of proposing new taxes to avert the most painful cuts in education, health care and social services, saying she’s counting on a federal rescue in the form of state assistance grants

In her annual State of the State speech, delivered to a joint session of the 61st Legislature, the governor acknowledged that lawmakers must navigate “one of the most difficult chapters” in state history over the next 60 days.

The residents of Washington expect their elected officials to fix the state’s budget crisis and create new jobs, she said. She noted that in 2009, about 475,000 Washington residents applied for unemployment benefits, many for the first time.

“For all of us who are called to public service, I would suggest that now is the time for leadership — it is the most important time to serve,” she said. “In the best of times, people forget legislative sessions. In the worst of times, history shows decisiveness is what is remembered.”

Gregoire said she will propose a 10-point plan to create up to 40,000 jobs in fields such as biotechnology, software development and renewable energy through $2 billion in capital investments.

“We owe it to our families to provide job opportunities,” she said.

The governor also proposed a new employee tax credit for every small business that hires a new full-time employee.

Despite the state’s dire financial situation, Gregoire also called for significant investments in education, including a voluntary “All-Start” preschool program to provide early learning opportunities to all 3- and 4-year-olds; continuing implementation of all-day kindergartens for all 5-year-olds; and full funding of a tuition assistance program that allows 12,300 low-income students to attend college.

She also asked the Legislature to lift the levy lid and fund levy equalization, which helps stabilize funding for school districts saddled with lower total property values.

And she said she would propose an overhaul of the state’s evaluation system for teachers and principals, including a system for tying principals’ performance to student achievement.

On the health care front, she wants to restore funding for the state’s Basic Health Plan, which serves about 65,000 low-income Washington residents, as well as hospice services for the dying and maternity care for low-income women.

Those and other programs would be slashed or eliminated under the all-cuts budget the governor released in December. But Gregoire said that budget does not represent Washington’s values.

“The December budget was balanced, but it would force us to abandon the values that define this state: fairness and compassion,” she said. “It would be unjust, unwise and unfair to abandon our friends and neighbors when they need us the most.”

Her goal, the governor said, is to restore $780 million worth of education, health and social services spending, while still cutting almost $1 billion to keep the state in the black through June 30, 2011.

Gregoire outlined some efficiencies she will undertake to shave state spending, such as eliminating boards and commissions and consolidating state services. But she said that at the request of legislative leaders, she did not present her own package of tax increases or other revenue enhancements to pay for the “buybacks.” Instead, she said, she’s counting on help from the federal government again this year to offset cuts in education and the Basic Health Plan.

The revenue to balance the budget, she said, “will come from new federal dollars, new taxes or both.”

Reactions mixed

That decision drew criticism from Republican leaders.

“It’s very disappointing,” said Sen. Joe Zarelli, R-Ridgefield. “That is money that is one-time. It continues to grow the deficit we are going to face next year.”

Zarelli also questioned the governor’s proposed new spending on programs like early childhood education.

“Now is not the time to add new programs,” he said. “We ought to shore up the things we consider priorities today.”

State Rep. Jaime Herrera, R-Camas, said the state should reconsider its recent increases in workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance rates. Noting that her 18th District is experiencing double-digit unemployment, she said, “I have been contacted by employers in our region that are struggling to keep their doors open, and now state agencies, under the authority of the governor, have significantly increased the cost of doing business in Washington.”

State Rep. Jim Jacks, D-Vancouver, who was Gregoire’s representative to Southwest Washington before he ran for the Legislature in 2008, said he agreed with the governor’s list of priorities.

The speech “clearly outlines what the state is facing,” he said. “I think as elected leaders we need to be focused on protecting the most vulnerable, making sure our state safety net is working, and we need to do as much as we can for job creation.”

“I like the things (Gregoire) bought back,” agreed Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver. “But I do wish she would come forward with the best way to pay for it. … She does seem to have good reason to think the federal government situation is going to clarify in the next few weeks.”

Rep. Tim Probst, D-Vancouver, said he was glad to hear that the governor wants to spur capital investments in technology jobs.

“That’s very aligned with my own mission,” he said. “I’m very interested in how she wants to do that and how it will help Clark County.”

Cuts and buybacks

The governor presented more details of her budget to the Senate Ways and Means Committee later in the day.

Among other efficiencies, she said she has proposed the elimination of 78 boards and commissions, the realignment of one-third of the state’s 64 small agencies, and the closure or partial closure of 10 state institutions, including Larch Corrections Center in Clark County.

Those institutions “may be an important fixture in a community, but are no longer cost-effective,” or in some cases their services can be provided more effectively elsewhere, she said.

She said she will also introduce legislation to “level the playing field” by eliminating tax policies that unfairly benefit out-of-state businesses, a step that could yield $170 million in revenue by mid-2011.

Gregoire identified $778.0 million in programs she wants to restore, including $165 million for levy equalization, $160 million for the Basic Health Plan and $146 million to restore state need grants to low-income college students.

But in her presentation to the Ways and Means Committee, she also stressed that her budget would cut human services programs by $433 million, eliminate $111 million for implementing a voter-approved program that reduces class size in grades K-4, and slash $90 million from the budgets of community colleges and four-year colleges, among many other reductions.

The governor also released a public safety plan prompted by the deaths of four Lakewood police officers who were shot and killed at a Lakewood-area coffee shop Nov. 29. Maurice Clemmons, the prime suspect in the shooting, was a fugitive from Arkansas with a lengthy criminal record. He was shot and killed by a lone police officer after a two-day manhunt.

Gregoire’s plan would strengthen the state’s mental health laws, increase the sentencing tools available to prosecutors, and give more weight to law enforcement and criminal histories when making commitment decisions.

Kathie Durbin: 360-735-4523 or kathie.durbin@columbian.com.

Loading...