Locke declares war on taxpayers

By Bob Williams, Evergreen Freedom Foundation

When it comes to governing, Governor Gary Locke talks a good talk . . . but that’s about it. In fact, we’re not even sure he managed to do that in this year’s State of the State speech. The Governor didn’t identify any specific solutions for addressing our state’s serious budget crisis, although he reiterated over and over, "We must act."

He seems confused. Consider what he said in an address last October to the Association of Washington Business (AWB): "It has always been my motto that we should do a few things very, very well instead of doing so many things in a mediocre fashion."

That sounds a lot like EFF’s time-worn message that state government needs to be limited to its essential, core functions, and it needs to carry out those functions with open, comprehensive accountability to taxpayers.

Locke went on in his speech to AWB, excoriating across-the-board budget cuts and extolling the virtues of core principles: "I think the time has come in which we’ve got to rethink that. . . . Better to eliminate whole lines of business and keep core functions in place much as the private sector does. What are your core missions? What are your core business functions? . . Keep those intact, support them. Make those strong and get rid of other things."

Funny, Locke made those strong statements on October 3rd last year, two weeks before his budget director asked state agencies, on Locke’s behalf, to identify sweeping fifteen percent cuts.

On October 2nd, in an interview with the Associated Press, the governor seemed to show he clearly understood the importance of immediate action: "I believe that whatever we do, we need to do as quickly as possible. That means now. . . . If we wait until the second year of the budget cycle, the cuts will be more draconian, because there would be a shorter time frame for saving money."

Well spoken, but that was four months ago. Locke has filled the time since with talk, talk, and more talk, while the budget crisis grows more serious.

To further illustrate his lack of leadership, in his recent State of the State address, Locke blamed our current deficit on a state "ravaged by war and a national recession." He conveniently forgot to mention that our state was in trouble many months before September 11th.

State spending in Washington has increased by 75.5 percent during the past ten years (1989-91). By comparison, inflation has grown by 27.2 percent in that same time period. When spending outpaces inflation by a 3 to 1 margin, who can be surprised that it will eventually catch up with us? Apparently, the governor and many lawmakers can be surprised.

But Locke shouldn’t be caught unaware. It was just a few months ago that he signed a budget "balanced" only by raiding $642 million from the state’s emergency reserves. Even worse, before he made his mark on the bill, he zeroed-in and vetoed two important performance measures: performance-based budgeting for transportation, and comprehensive performance audits of state agencies.

The governor also refuses to acknowledge the true extent of our budget deficit. His official line is that our state is $1.25 billion in the hole. The truth is, Washington is actually facing a $2 billion deficit.

While Locke twiddles his tongue, many governors across the nation facing similar economic woes have responded with immediate, effective action. They have called special sessions to adopt new budgets, identify real solutions, and implement hiring and salary freezes.

Instead, Governor Locke’s proposed budget relies on dubious federal refunds, so-called "sin taxes," and ill-chosen, half-hearted cuts in social programs. Meanwhile, he has declined to implement hiring freezes for state employees, instead planning to give them a salary increase. (State employees earn an average total compensation of more than $50,000 each year.)

Even members of Locke’s own party are questioning the wisdom of increasing state salaries at the expense of private citizens who are facing serious budget crunches and job losses of their own. As Senator Darlene Fairley, D-Lake Forest Park, put it when she suggested a one-year, five percent cut in state employee salaries: "If people out in the rest of the world are having to tighten their belts, why shouldn’t we be part of that?"

And what about a hiring freeze? Locke claims his supplemental budget will reduce the number of state full-time employees by 440, but if his transportation tax increase is adopted he will instead be adding a net of 660 new positions. Already, over the course of his time in office, Governor Locke has added more than 8,000 full-time positions.

If the governor was really serious about reducing Washington’s astronomical deficit, he would keep his promise to ". . . really pare back government spending as quickly and deliberately as possible."

He needs to take a good, hard look at where taxpayer money is being spent. This starts with identifying core government functions. Tremendous inefficiency and waste exists in the delivery systems for our state’s major budget items: K-12 education, higher education, health care, human services, and transportation. Massive amounts of money are being funneled into these programs, but services are not reaching the citizens on the other side who need them. In the endless rush for more money, figuring out how to spend that money wisely is a forgotten cause.

Governor Locke did get one thing right in his State of the State address: "We can balance our budget without a general tax increase." We would build on that by saying we cannot balance our budget without some serious reorganization and reevaluation of the state’s core functions, and some serious reforms in accountability measures.

Of course, Locke’s statement was a good spin to distract from the fact that his transportation tax proposal will squeeze more money (another $8 billion) out of taxpaying citizens, but we’re getting used to separating Locke’s words from his action . . . or inaction.

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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