Governor's speech: All talk, no action

By Bob Williams, Evergreen Freedom Foundation

As Lt. Governor Brad Owens prophetically stated yesterday, ". . . here we go again."

The theme of Governor Locke’s State of the State speech this afternoon was "We must act." I couldn’t agree more. But Locke has not answered his own call.

Blaming our budget deficit on a state "ravaged by war and national recession," the Governor failed to mention its root cause: overspending and mismanagement. Locke should know better: just last June he signed a two-year budget that was only "balanced" by raiding $642 million from state emergency reserves.

The numbers shout the story. Washington’s spending has increased 75.5 percent since the 1989-91 biennium, while inflation has only increased 27.2 percent. Is it any wonder we’re having trouble keeping up with expenses?

While governors across the nation took immediate action to respond to their own economic woes by calling special legislative sessions and implementing hiring freezes, Locke took the bold step of requesting that agencies identify ways to reduce their budgets by 15 percent. Locke’s own budget director stated in November that "deep cuts or elimination of programs will be required." But those cuts are not reflected in Locke’s proposed budget. Apparently he lacks the political will to make the tough decisions.

Instead, the Governor’s budget relies on federal funds, "sin taxes," and cuts in social programs. Meanwhile, he plans to go ahead with salary increases for state employees. Even members of his own party have questioned the wisdom of raising state salaries at the expense of private citizens who are tightening of their own belts and even suffering the loss of jobs.

And what about a hiring freeze? Locke pledges to reduce the state payroll by 440 full-time positions, but he will add an additional 1,100 if his transportation package is approved. He has added more than 8,000 since taking office.

We are facing a $2 billion deficit when the overspending of this biennium’s budget is factored in. If Governor Locke is serious about addressing this huge problem, he needs to follow through on his promise to " . . . really pare back government spending as quickly and deliberately as possible."

This will not happen until the Governor takes leadership in a serious debate about the core functions of our state government. Locke must address the tremendous inefficiency and ineffectiveness in the delivery systems for K-12, higher education, health care, human services, and transportation. Too often, money is being funneled in but services are not reaching the citizens who need them. Until the Governor addresses these problems, all other proposed solutions are doomed to fail.

Remember the Governor’s own words, "If we don’t act, who will?" The voters, that’s who.

Contact: Jason Mercier, Deputy Communications Director, (360) 956-3482

Evergreen Freedom Foundation P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507 Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874 Email: effwa@effwa.org