“This is a five-alarm fire, and I intend to treat it that way.”
Thus declared Gov. Bob Ferguson about Washington’s budget shortfall, now estimated at between $12 billion and $16 billion over four years. Ferguson is a Democrat, and his party holds the majority in the Legislature.
While the biennial budget is always an important endeavor for the Legislature, this year’s task takes on an added air of urgency.
The Senate and House have each released their budget proposals, and there is cause for concern. The Senate Democrats’ two-year operating budget clocks in at $78.5 billion, about $5.4 billion more than the current budget. The House Democrats’ two-year spending plan is $77.8 billion, or about $5.3 billion over the current budget.
The Senate’s operating budget relies on nearly $6.2 billion from a four-year, $17 billion package of tax changes drawn up by Democrats that has yet to be voted on, the Washington State Standard reported. The House budget is similar, including essentially eliminating the 1 percent cap on annual property tax increases and a so-called “wealth tax” on very rich Washingtonians and corporations.
Ferguson, to his credit, has made clear that the wealth tax is a nonstarter, as is draining the state’s rainy day fund, as the Senate Democrats proposed.
In a meeting with The Columbian’s Editorial Board, Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, defended his caucus’s budget as fiscally responsible, while acknowledging that it will respect Ferguson’s positions. “I’m disappointed that he’s not convinced yet” about the wealth tax, Pedersen said, but “we will balance the budget without the wealth tax.”
While the Senate Democrats’ budget is higher than the current one, Pedersen said, it cuts about $7 billion over four years with “a bunch of difficult reductions,” including money for early learning and college grant programs.
Senate Republicans proposed their own “Save Washington” budget that basically would hold spending steady at 2024 levels with no tax increases, while boosting funding for special education by about $200 million. Senate Minority Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, said in a meeting with the Editorial Board that was “the silver solution” for special ed, but the state cannot afford the Democrats’ “platinum solution” this year.
A key point of contention in budget talks is state employees’ pay. A collective bargaining agreement between former Gov. Jay Inslee and workers would cost $4 billion over four years, with workers getting an average raise of 3 percent, Braun said. Senate Democrats want to stick with the agreement but furlough employees for up to 13 days per year.
That plan “is very expensive when we have a deficit,” Braun said. Lawmakers can and should argue it’s “financially infeasible,” he said. In fact, Braun maintains the Senate Republicans’ proposal is a better deal for workers: a $5,000 bonus over two years to all state employees, then the pacts would be renegotiated. For state workers earning $80,000 or less per year, the Republican deal would translate into more income than the Senate Democrats’ proposal, Braun said. Plus, furloughs would reduce service time to residents by 5 million hours, he said.
We agree with the governor that Washington’s financial situation is “a five-alarm fire,” and in our view it cannot be doused with more taxes. Belt-tightening must be the way forward, and we hope Democrats will work with their Republican colleagues to reach a spending plan that will benefit all Washingtonians.
