Postman reported that Gregoire told The Olympian a whopper, claiming she was "irked" that non-union state employees would receive pay raises later than union members, complaining she "got rolled" by the Legislature. But the proposal was in Gregoire's own budget! [ p.168] Postman's conclusion:
how can you be irked when lawmakers adopt something that was included in your own budget? And how does that constitute being rolled?Earlier this week, Gregoire fibbed to the Spokesman-Review:
as a percentage of overall personal income in the state, the just-adopted budget is the lowest ever.She apparently made the same claim to the P-I. A state budget analyst e-mailed this spreadsheet and explained:
You can see from the chart below that within the last decade only the 2001-03 budget was a higher share of the state's personal income than either of the budgets Gregoire wrote, and that's due to the fact that revenues plummeted.She gets to her statement by making two misleading -- and undoubtedly intentional -- assumptions:
1. She uses the November 2006 revenue forecast, not the most recent March 2007 forecast. The Nov. 2006 forecast for personal income was higher for 2007-09 than the March 2007 forecast. This means that it makes the budget expenditures look smaller as a percentage of personal income in 2007-09 than the March forecast. When you incorporate the most recent data the figures go up.2. Even more egregiously, she COMPLETELY EXCLUDES the expenditures from the Education Legacy Trust Account and the Pension Funding Stabilization Account. This excludes over $1 billion of near general fund state spending that comprises the $33.4 billion near general fund total everyone is citing. (And notably she claims credit for the "Ed Legacy Trust Account" expenditures when she tours the ed boards citing the increase in K-12 spending, yet she excludes it in this rhetorical claim.)
Hmmm....: Maybe there should be a requirement that in order to run 4 Gov U have to pass the math portion of the WASL test....
Posted by: Methow Ken on April 27, 2007 11:54 PMBetween lies, taxes and the felon release program, Rossi should be paying her for campaign support.
Posted by: Jeff B. on April 28, 2007 07:46 AMWith a dip in Washington Construction Spending, Gregoire's Budget goes up in smoke.
Someone answer me this.....is Sales Tax being charged on all of this Transportation Work and other State Government Projects??
If so, it's pretty obvious why spending is so high & aggressive.......
It's merely to shift $$ from the Road Funds to the General Fund....a short-term shift, that allows Gregoire to be Santa Claus to State Workers & other constituency groups.
It's not sustainable if that is what is going on.
If sales tax is charged on these Transportation Projects, what is the rationale??...other than a "smoke-and-mirrors" shell-game to the General Fund. Check it out. How does Gas Tax money get to the General Fund???
Heck of a campaign slogan if she told the truth.
"My budget will spend more than revenue."
Posted by: JCM on April 28, 2007 08:56 AMThe state does not have unfunded pensions. It has had for many years an unfunded liability in two of the eight state-funded and administered pension plans. Those plans, called Plan 1, have been closed to new entrants since 1977. The other six plans are "overfunded," that is, valuation assets exceed projected liabilities. The state's retirement system as a whole is funded at 99% of projected liabilities, which is regarded as a sound standard. See the 2005 Actuarial Valuation Report, which can be accessed at the web site of the Office of the State Actuary.
http://osa.leg.wa.gov/Actuarial_Services/Publications/osa_valuations.htm
State government can be criticized for many things, but having unfunded pensions is not among them.
Posted by: ram on April 28, 2007 08:02 PMWhoever runs against her for Governor; I hope they call her on this kind of stuff and have their ducks in row beforehand, because she can be had. No way in Olympia that she should be reelected, but it will take a strong opponent to knock her off her perch in this Blue State - that's the reality.
Posted by: KS on April 28, 2007 11:03 PMI had based my prediction on her actions at Ecology and with the AG office.
Posted by: swatter on April 30, 2007 01:57 PM