Locke's response to forecast: too little, too late

Solving state budget crisis will require bold leadership

Perhaps the biggest surprise about today’s $347 million revenue shortfall announcement is that it is a surprise.

Governor Locke responded to the newest crisis by mandating an across-the-board hiring freeze, restrictions on travel, and the zeroing-out of new purchases. As the governor said, “Time is running out. The longer we wait the deeper the cuts must be.”

During 2001, 65,000 private sector jobs were lost. That does not include the tens of thousands lost this year. During that same time, state government grew by 2 percent.

“The governor, who has said many times that everything is on the table, can’t seem to find the table,” said Lynn Harsh, executive director of the Olympia-based Evergreen Freedom Foundation. “Senator Lisa Brown, who is writing the legislative budget this year, chides taxpayers about biting bullets as if they’re the latest trendy appetizer. The people who haven’t been willing to bite bullets are the governor and legislators.”

Lawmakers face some unpleasant choices: 1) Cut deeper and harder than would have been necessary had cuts been made last fall, 2) seriously investigate the recent audit reports showing billions of dollars in wasted, mismanaged, “lost,” or improperly used funds, or 3) ask taxpayers for more money.

In response to the economic crisis, Governor Locke has touted a new “public works” program to be paid for with increased gas taxes. “Governor Locke wants to collect more taxes from recession-plagued citizens and business owners, and pass it through the hands of government bureaucracies to eventually employ up to 19,000 people,” said Harsh.

In contrast, British Columbia’s self-described Liberal Party has decided to fix their economic woes by deregulating businesses, canning prevailing wage laws, putting nearly all jobs up for competitive bid, killing single-source contracts, and making cuts of up to 25% in “non-essential” services. In other words, they are unleashing the private sector.

B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell supported these reforms by saying, “It is reasonable, it is responsible, it is the right thing to do.”

Instead of looking for shallow, quick fixes, EFF calls on Governor Locke to act on B.C.’s example. “It is reasonable, it is responsible, it is the right thing to do,” said Harsh.

Resources:

• Seven steps to solving the budget crisis without raising taxes
• British Columbia's reforms
• Growth in state employment
• Competitive bidding in action -- Bangor Naval Base
• Resolving Washington's anti-business climate

Contact: Marsha Richards, 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