Long-term fixes are needed
Published 3:31 pm Thursday, September 17, 2009
Any optimism that next year’s legislative session would offer relief from the pain of last year’s budget cuts was dashed Thursday. The official state revenue projection for the remainder of the two-year budget period fell another $238 million, assuring more spending cuts are on the way.
State budget director Victor Moore painted this unhappy picture for lawmakers: “When you add the revenue loss we’ve experienced plus some additional costs we’ve incurred, we may face a billion dollar shortfall or more in the coming session.”
On the heels of a 2009 session that filled a $9 billion budget hole, that’s a sobering assessment, indeed. And it’s worth remembering that a substantial part of that shortfall was mitigated by federal stimulus money, a boost that can’t be counted on for next year.
Arun Raha, the state’s chief revenue forecaster, said he’s cautiously optimistic that the recession has reached its bottom here, but that it will take time for consumers and businesses to regain enough optimism to begin spending again. Such spending is the lifeblood of state revenues. If consumer spending doesn’t improve, Raha added, we could quickly find ourselves back in a recession.
That echoed the view of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who announced this week that while the recession is likely over, “It’s still going to feel like a very weak economy for some time.”
Obviously, more state spending cuts will be necessary, and Gov. Chris Gregoire said Thursday her supplemental budget request will include them. But we urge lawmakers to do more — to take advantage of this crisis by addressing the ongoing structural problems in the state budget. A commitment to a serious, bipartisan discussion of proposals to save money over the long-haul — as opposed to slashing programs year-by-year — could yield spending decisions that are actually sustainable.
An example: Minority Republicans have proposed limiting the amount of state tuition waivers colleges and universities grant, awards that currently total more than $400 million per biennium. Only 11 percent of such waivers are currently awarded for financial aid reasons. Another higher-education idea: Don’t subsidize tuition for “career students,” those who have already earned far more credits than needed to complete their degree. Surely, many other sensible proposals can be brought to the table.
Nobody likes such conditions. Most legislators ran for office to make a positive difference for causes they believe in, which generally means directing budget dollars into programs they find worthy.
Not much of that will happen in 2010, and perhaps not for the foreseeable future. It’s time for an open discussion over which spending priorities really matter most, so they can be lasting ones.
