Dear Legislator:
On behalf of the National Taxpayers Union’s 10,800 members in Washington, I urge you to avoid what has become a legislative game of proposing gimmicks and “no other choice” tax hikes” as you complete the state budget. The time has come for committing to a special session that focuses on reforming and reducing state spending.
Washington State has had special sessions in 2010, 2011, and now 2012 to close chronic budget gaps. Leaders in Olympia have shown an unwillingness to seriously address the long-term spending problem and have instead relied upon sleight-of-hand that gives only the illusion of stability. According to the Washington Research Council, the House-passed budget would leave the state with a $2 billion overspending problem to start the next biennium. A bipartisan Senate budget, while not ideal, represents a more defensible starting point.
The Senate-passed budget addresses the current $1.1 billion deficit primarily by cutting spending by $773 million, compared to only $408 million in spending reductions passed by the House. Furthermore, the Senate budget does not resort to delaying hundreds of millions in K-12 school payments to achieve artificial balance, nor does it raise taxes. The result is a blueprint that strives toward fiscal equilibrium not only this year but into the next biennium.
Unfortunately, the Senate’s budget has its flaws. On one hand, it commendably assumes adoption of Senate Bill 6378, which freezes participation in three existing defined benefit plans and enrolls new hires in a hybrid arrangement. These pension reforms would save taxpayers $1 billion over the next 25 years. On the other hand, the budget relies on skipping a $133 million pension payment as a bridge to this reform.
As legislators, you face a choice that millions of Washington’s citizens deal with on a daily basis: continue with current spending plans in the face of economic difficulty, or scale back spending habits in order to achieve balance. Government should do what its constituents are doing right now: tighten its belt and restructure for the future. The people who pay government’s bills deserve that kind of responsible leadership.
Sincerely,
Brent MeadState Government Affairs Manager