Keep a focus on our future
Published 12:01 am Sunday, September 18, 2011
On Wednesday, a day before the latest revenue forecast punched a new $1.2 billion hole in the state budget, the state’s community and technical colleges declared a financial emergency.
The declaration, which gives colleges the authority to expedite faculty layoffs, came in response to an earlier directive by the governor to submit plans for cutting 5 and 10 percent from current spending. This after state support already had been cut by 22 percent since 2009.
The disconnect between record enrollments at community and technical colleges, the chief engines for retraining workers displaced during the Great Recession, and record budget cuts is glaring. The most important vehicle to long-term economic growth and prosperity — education — is being starved to the point that it might never fully recover.
Yet with consumer and business spending frozen by uncertainty, and revenues growing far more slowly than demand for state services, things have gotten worse. Few in Olympia think the next revenue forecast, on Nov. 17, won’t be worse yet.
The Legislature clearly needs to make major budget adjustments before the end of this year. The governor can make cuts, but they must be across the board and wouldn’t apply to basic K-12 education, which is constitutionally protected. Under that scenario, corrections would be reduced to unacceptably dangerous levels, and higher education would be gutted by an additional 30 percent.
If our colleges are left unable to effectively train the workforce that will fuel our economic future, few other budget priorities will matter. There will never be money to support them.
As lawmakers contemplate their next steps, they should keep a couple of key points in mind:
•Bipartisanship will be essential. Democrats still control both legislative chambers and the governor’s office, but the current budget was produced with significant input from Senate Republicans, lending it broad credibility. The Senate’s leading budget negotiators, Democrat Ed Murray and Republican Joe Zarelli, appear ready to take a similar approach now. Good ideas are needed from both parties.
•Put everything on the table. Yes, including tax increases. If revenue is part of the proposed fix, voters will get the final say, which makes the credibility of the overall package crucial. If other tough decisions are avoided — like re-examining public employee health-care benefits, eliminating and consolidating agencies, and contracting out state services where it saves money — voters who already hold a pretty dim view of government almost certainly won’t bless even temporary tax hikes.
After four years of cutting, the easy choices are gone. Our state’s future depends on the hard choices to come. Lawmakers of both parties must face them thoughtfully, creatively and courageously.
