OLYMPIA — One of the most anticipated moments in Gov. Chris Gregoire’s tenure arrives Thursday when she will release her spending blueprint for the next state budget.
She’s declared it will be ugly because many difficult cuts are needed to erase a projected multibillion-dollar deficit facing the state through 2011.
Few people outside her budget-writing team know details of her proposal that is being printed today.
Lawmakers and lobbyists say they expect trimming or axing of state programs and depleting of the state work force.
“There’s going to be a whole lot of ugly,” said state Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens. “I expect to see very large cuts.”
Hobbs serves on the Senate Ways and Means Committee that will hold hearings on Gregoire’s proposal next month and then draft its own version of a budget.
“I have my favorites I’d like spared but really you cannot be selfish,” he said. “It is such a bad budget year.”
Luis Moscoso, government relations director for the Washington Public Employees Association, said workers are waiting, watching and bracing for the worst.
“I’m expecting some of the most Draconian cuts and the Legislature will have to decide where they want to go,” said Moscoso, a Mountlake Terrace resident.
Layoffs are an “absolute concern” for members, he said. The union represents classified employees in two- and four-year colleges and staff in the departments of revenue and natural resources and the Liquor Control Board.
Last summer the union negotiated a new contract with Gregoire’s office that includes a small pay hike. The Legislature will decide whether to approve it.
Moscoso said taking less money to preserve jobs is a possibility.
“It all depends on how creative they can be,” he said. “Everything should be on the table. It’s one of those times.”
Gregoire is scheduled to put forth separate operating, capital and transportation budgets covering the period of July 1, 2009, to June 30, 2011.
Most attention will be focused on the operating budget where the estimated $5 billion deficit looms. In particular, eyes will be on money earmarked for education and health care which together consume nearly two-thirds of the general fund that pays for the state’s day-to-day operations.
Some Republican legislators say they won’t be surprised if Gregoire gets creative and avoids some cuts by writing into her budget receipt of money from a much-discussed, though not yet approved, federal stimulus package.
Rep. Barbara Bailey, R-Oak Harbor, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, has said getting the governor’s budget marks the beginning of conversations among legislators on how they use taxpayer dollars.
“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.”
Meanwhile, on Thursday, some residents may find their cost-cutting ideas embedded in the governor’s proposed budget.
Gregoire invited the public to offer suggestions and she received 1,737 responses.
Among them were reducing worker salaries to avert layoffs, ending the state’s operation of liquor stores and licensing privately run liquor outlets instead, and expanding use of telecommuting to reduce use of rented office space.
“We read through them and we considered them when making our decisions,” said Glen Kuper, spokesman for the governor’s budget office.
Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
Gov. Gregoire’s budget
The release of the proposed 2009-11 operating, construction and transportation budgets is planned for 9:30 a.m. Thursday in Olympia.
Live TV coverage: TVW will provide live coverage starting at 9:30 a.m. It will be streamed live online. For more information, go to http://tvw.org.
Read online: Budget documents will be posted online at www.ofm.wa.gov.
What’s next: Public hearings on the proposed budgets will be held when the Legislature convenes next month. The House of Representatives and the Senate will separately draft and adopt versions of each budget, leading to negotiations and action on the budgets. The session starts Jan. 12 and is slated to last 105 days.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
