The Washington Policy Center Blog has more on the expanded $2.7 billion deficit now facing the state in its next budgetary biennium. Given that ugly number, one would think Christine Gregoire would trot out some proposals to address that looming gap.
So far, only crickets - to this and previous deficit projections for the coming 2009-11 budgetary cycle.
Indeed, when asked about coming budget problems, Gregoire budget chief Victor Moore said:
"We know there is going to be some pretty significant belt-tightening that we are going to have to do in this budget," he said. "We understand that we are going to have some significant challenges, we are using the processes that we have used in the past to look at government spending."
Would that be the same process that brought us a 33% spike in state government spending under Gregoire's leadership?
Furthermore, when Moore was asked if the Governor's Office of Financial Management would run some fresh budget numbers given the latest state revenue projections (affecting the aforementioned$2.7 billion forecast from the Senate Ways & Means Committee), he responded:
"I'm not sure how useful that would be."
Courage.
Posted by Eric Earling at June 30, 2008 07:37 PM | Email ThisWashington is not anywhere near Michigan�s incompetence but I can see the same mistakes being made time and time again. If Western Washington's modus holds true, our economy moves 6 months or so after the fact nationally. We could be in big trouble here soon with unemployment and high taxes stifling business growth.
Then what.
Sometimes I think that Rossi is crazy for running. The economy will slide into the dumper just about the time he takes over the big seat. The Times and P.I. will hammer him till hell won't have it, blaming him for Gregoire's uncontrolled spending and transfer programs.
C Jggy makes a good point. I think Rossi has a better than 50% chance thanks to Christine's moves like the online gambling ban, the online sales tax, the ongoing viaduct debacle, etc.
But if Rossi wins, it will play out just as C Jggy says.
Posted by: russell garrard on June 30, 2008 09:47 PMSo what are Republicans going to do about it ? How effectively they respond will determine the outcome. It is tougher because the MSM is working mainly for the Democrats. This will require thinking outside of the box for R's to respond effectively, and don't think too many Republican operatives are able to really do this. I'd like to be proven wrong here, but am not holding my breath.
Posted by: KS on June 30, 2008 09:59 PM8000 plus new hires - Bye Bye
Anyone with less than 20 years service - A simple 401k, (like everone else in business these days is having to settle for) and bye bye bye a forever Tax Payer pension plan.
You really really don't need to take your family all over the world this year at taxpayers expense...Ya Think?
And a why not stop giving 20,000 illegals free health care...I mean really send em back home on a lear jet....That would be cheaper
Why not walk the block to work each day instead of having a state patrol driver come get you in your mansion in a CO2 burning Lincoln
How about turning down the heat in the Mansion this year, like people in your state are having to do
Tommorrow is really really not a good time to add another 1.5 cents TAX on the cost of gas...BIG DUH
oh and finally
This is Bush's final term..just a reminder
But the dumbocrats are in their second term where by the way gas was 2.00 a gallon when they started and a you been gonna do something about that for a 3 hearings or so a now...DUH
How about jumping on board with some ideas about bringing the cost of gas down?
Just asking?
Worst. Governor. Ever.
Posted by: Palouse on July 1, 2008 07:54 AMPosted by: Mark Dial on July 1, 2008 09:18 AM
Being in Olympia, sometimes you get to be privy to interesting conversations in politics. The press is condemning Governor Christine Gregoire's campaign for going negative out the gate with negative ads and smears like those on www.dontknowdino.com. Getting dirty so early wasn't her team's first choice in campaign planning. The campaign staff actually wanted to spend the first 5 months proclaiming victory and laying accolades on her many accomplishments as Governor. As an old hat at marketing and as most of Washington State knows, that is a herculean task, even for the best spinners. I happened to be a fly on the wall for one of those conversations.
I was having lunch in downtown last month. At a table near to us sat the transportation secretary and one of Gregoire's campaign aides. She was telling the aide that if in 2004 there had been no roads at all in Washington, Gregoire would have finished enough miles of roads to connect a route directly from each of the new businesses spawned from her economic expansion projects to every other business spawned and never take the same route twice.
To this the aide replied, "Wait a minute! This morning I had coffee with the state's economic team and they warned me that not one of those billion dollar projects had produced a single job at all."
The transportation secretary responded quickly with a mouth half full of potato salad, "That's ok, we haven't finished any roads either."
Posted by: Andy on July 1, 2008 09:25 AM$2 Billion Lite Rail?
Hey, you got chocolate on my peanut butter!
Posted by: John Bailo on July 1, 2008 09:31 AMgs: We can't do that. They have a contractual right to the benefits. There is a body of case law establishing that. Except in very exceptional circumstances, we can only change benefits for new entrants to the retirement system, not for active employees already in the system, and not for retirees. The state did that with the creation of the "Plan 3's" for new state, public school and some local government employees in the 1990s. Those are "hybrid" plans with defined benefit and defined contribution components.
So what you suggest is not feasible, whatever its merits may be.
Posted by: friar on July 1, 2008 05:57 PMBased on personal knowledge, public school retirees from New York state can have their benefits changed/gone based on the contract negotiated by the current active members.
For those of us in the private sector, retiree benefits can be changed/gone at anytime. Private sector union retiree benefits (at least the one's I know of) are subject to the contract negotiated by the current active union members.
It appears that Washington state public sector employees have a sweet retirement deal.
Posted by: mvray on July 1, 2008 08:10 PM