http://www.columbian.com/news/2011/jan/11/rivers-delivers-republican-response-state/
To read Gov. Gregoire’ speech: http://www.governor.wa.gov/speeches/speech-view.asp?SpeechSeq=217
OLYMPIA — Gov. Chris Gregoire wants the Legislature to be “bold” as the state faces a moribund economy and tackles a state budget that is billions in the red.
In her State of the State address Tuesday, the Democratic governor told a joint session of the House and Senate that lawmakers need to remake how state government works, not just cut services to balance the budget.
And heeding the symbolic message of voters in November, when new taxes were voted down and an initiative limiting how taxes and fees are raised was approved, Gregoire said she doesn’t want new taxes.
“As they struggle, their view of government is pretty clear,” Gregoire said. “They want government to stay focused on its core services, live within its means, and use every taxpayer’s dollar efficiently and effectively.”
Democrats were cautious about Gregoire’s agenda, and Republicans heard a speech that included the reform they have been pushing for.
Key Democratic lawmakers welcomed Gregoire’s call for changes but said the Legislature would need time for in-depth study and debate before committing to any major government overhauls.
“It’s an opportunity for us to think: ‘What do we do as a state, and do how we pay for it?’” said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Ross Hunter, D-Medina.
“She’s put a lot of proposals forward, and I think that’s positive,” said Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane. “Implementing them is going to require a larger conversation.”
“A lot of what they’re saying today is what we’ve been saying for the past couple years, but the past is the past,” said Sen. Joe Zarelli, R-Ridgefield, the Senate Republicans’ budget lead. “At this point, if everybody starts putting their ideas on the table, maybe we’ll come up with something that moves us forward.”
The Legislature began its session Monday in Olympia and in the next 105 days will try to patch a $4.6 billion budget deficit. Making it worse, tax revenues have not increased and forecast revenues have remained bleak.
“You will have choices that seem unfair and unjust,” Gregoire said. “You will have to make decisions that will make life harder for people back home.”
Gregoire added that lawmakers must realize that government can’t “do it all.”
By law, about 60 percent of the state’s budget is off-limits, leaving about 40 percent, or $14 billion, on the chopping block. In December, Gregoire’s proposed all-cuts budget left almost no department untouched.
On Tuesday, she reiterated her proposals to create a Department of Education and change the state ferry system into a regional operation that would be operated and mostly paid for by Puget Sound counties. Both proposals face opposition from legislators, including key Democrats, and interest groups.
She pointed to health care and pensions as two critical areas of spending that need to be controlled, pinning them against education funding.
“We must get a grip on these two budget busters. Unless and until we do, we cannot invest like we must in the education of our children,” she said.
In her budget, Gregoire has proposed cutting the state’s Basic Health and Disability Lifeline programs for a reduction of more than $550 million. The Basic Health Program provides subsidized medical insurance to 66,000 poorer Washingtonians, and the Disability Lifeline program aids mostly childless adults who are unemployable but not receiving federal aid.
The governor wants to repeal automatic increases in pension plan benefits. She said she wants to cut more than $1 billion from unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation costs.
While Democrats lost many seats in November, they hold majorities in both chambers.
“There are those who say we can’t provide real change,” Gregoire said. “Let’s prove the cynics and skeptics wrong. Let’s be bold.”
