Everett, Wash.
Published: Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Legislators ready to tackle budget crisis

Lawmakers predict they'll have to slash spending across the board to overcome a $6 billion deficit

By Jerry Cornfield
Herald Writer

 OLYMPIA -- When state lawmakers arrive this week for committee meetings, they'll be talking a lot about money.

More accurately they will be speaking about the lack of it and what it means for residents.

The projected $6 billion deficit in the next two-year budget will cast its shadow over nearly every House and Senate hearing scheduled this week because trimming, slashing and eliminating could occur in literally every undertaking funded with state tax dollars.

"We are going to have to hack away at programs we don't want to lose and there will be some things that will disappear," said state Sen. Margarita Prentice, D-Renton, chairwoman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

Some state workers will likely lose jobs while others could see their hours cut.

Teachers may get smaller pay raises -- if any at all -- and larger classes. Payments to the state pension fund may be delayed. Performance audits could be curbed.

Among dozens of programs on the chopping block are ones to boost reading in elementary schools and another to nab highway speeders through aerial enforcement.

The list of painful possibilities is long and harsh.

"You've got to get big chunks to come up with $6 billion," said Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-­Snohomish, vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

To understand the enormity, Dunshee calculated the layoff of 10,000 teachers -- an idea absolutely not on the table -- would save only $1.6 billion.

Public education funding, from pre-school to college, will get cut, he said. Expect it in health care, social services, public safety and everywhere else.

Republicans said they are looking forward to the challenge and to seeing what the majority Democrats propose.

"They are in charge. It's time they lay out their plans to balance the budget," said Rep. Gary Alexander, R-Olympia, the ranking Republican member of the House Appropriations Committee. "Everything needs to be open for consideration."

The process will get under way in earnest when Gov. Chris Gregoire sends her proposed budget to the Legislature the week of Dec. 15.

Her budget team is drafting it now, one slice and one dice at a time.

"We're having a good four to five hours a day of intense budget discussions," said Glen Kuper, spokesman for the Office of Financial Management. "By the end of next week, we'll have to have things pretty much nailed down."

The Senate Ways and Means Committee and House Appropriations Committee will each draft their own version of a budget. Each will use the governor's proposal as a blueprint from which to start.

The Legislature is required to adopt a balanced budget in its session that begins Jan. 12 and is scheduled to run 105 days.

Both of those committees will hold hearings Thursday on the state's economy and budget shortfall.

Those conversations may open the eyes of some legislators and representatives of interest groups seeking more money for their pet projects.

"One of the sad things is there are folks who haven't caught on that these are grim times," Prentice said.

Dunshee agreed. "I think this week will be real healthy and some legislators will really get what it means. People have to understand how serious it is and the legislators have to understand how huge it is going to be," he said.

Though the state is facing a deficit, it will take in more revenue in the next budget than it collected in the current one, said Rep. Barbara Bailey, R-Oak Harbor.

"This gives us a great opportunity to look at what government is presently doing and what it needs to be doing for the future," said Bailey, who serves on the House Appropriations Committee.

"There will be an awful lot of time spent talking about how bad things will be," she said. "We need to spend an equal amount of time talking about how we can do things better."



Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA