The Governor's Budget

Governor Gregoire's proposed '05-'06 budget for the state of Washington is for all intensive purposes a dud. While she did cut some programs as well as 1, 000 useless management jobs within the state's bureaucracy, she still increased spending that will cause the state to send out $1.6 billion more than it brings in. To cover this discrepancy she proposed another tax hike on cigarettes, this time with a hike of twenty cents a pack, as well as the reinstitution of a tax on inherited estates worth $2 million or more.

The problem with this budget, a problem the governor has acknowledged, is that it is unsustainable. Currently state spending is rising at a clip of 6-7%, while revenues taken in by the state are only increasing at a 4.5% clip. The governor's budget does nothing to address the state's fiscal insolvency and down the road the legislature along with the governor are going to have to do one of two things, either raise taxes or make genuine spending cuts.

This state already has one of the highest tax burdens in the country, and it is for this reason that the state is so unfriendly to businesses. The National Federation of Independent Business' Washington Small Business report ranked Washington State dead last among the nation's twenty-six largest states in how supportive we are of small businesses. Raising taxes even further will only scare more and more businesses away from Washington, further hurting our economy and driving away more sources of tax-revenue.

If we are going to solve the state's fiscal problems the only viable option open to us is to cut spending. Any program or bureaucratic agency that isn't absolutely necessary should meet an ax, and furthermore, we should also reform the way the state subsidizes medical coverage. Let me make it clear that I am not at all knowledgeable on the state's health care system, but I do believe that the state should only help out with emergency cases, such as visits to the emergency room or life and death surgeries.

The governor's budget might work for the next couple of years, but in the words of the governor herself, "I don't like it. It's not sustainable. It's what is wrong with the budget in Washington." Sooner or later the legislature and either Governor Gregoire or her successor are going to have to deal with the fact that the state's costs are rising faster than it's revenues. Increasing taxes will only further the problem, leaving cuts in spending as the only viable option. The message we in Washington State received from our governor today however is basically that that is another problem for another day, left for some other governor and another legislature to handle. If she continues in this manner though, that day may come sooner than she desires.