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NEWS ADVISORY
 November 13, 2002
Contact: Marsha Richards, Communications Director EFF urges legislators to work
with governor's new budget model OLYMPIA—Governor Gary Locke will discuss the new budget model developed by his budget team at a press conference tomorrow afternoon. The Evergreen Freedom Foundation has reviewed this model and considers it one of the nation's most innovative approaches to solving state deficits. "The governor's new model says budgeting should be about results instead of a failed status quo,"said Bob Williams, EFF's president. "It is an excellent tool for legislators and a crucial step toward government accountability for taxpayers." EFF is urging legislators to begin working with the governor's budget team immediately to identify the state's core purposes and develop a plan for achieving those purposes within existing revenue. "This new model invites vigorous and healthy debate about what government's top priorities should be, and it will provide a framework for accomplishing those priorities efficiently and effectively," said Williams. Read EFF's recent commentary on the new budget model.
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1 Part Honesty; 2 Parts Arrogance At a March 23, 2005, House Appropriations hearing on a bill to gut the voter-approved I-601 spending limit, Rep. Jim McIntire (D) asked a supporter of I-601’s two-third supermajority requirement for the legislature to raise taxes the following question: "Can you name a time when we [legislators] have actually not just set it [supermajority requirement] aside by majority vote? I mean, this is in many respects a procedural motion that has no bearing. It’s a statutory constraint that cannot constrain any legislature that chooses as a majority to set it aside . . . have we ever used a supermajority [to raise taxes]?" - Rep. Jim McIntire (D - 46) Despite the arrogance of some state officials, Washington's constitution is clear: "All political power is inherent in the people..." |
