Rep. Hans Dunshee
Rebuilding trust between citizens and their government is the most important thing we can do. It’s more important than any bill we could pass. Without the trust of the people, democracy can’t work.
There has been great criticism of the decision to put the transportation package to a vote of the people, and of the budget we just passed. In both cases, rebuilding trust played a part in the decisions.
The citizens lost faith in the Legislature to get its work done on time — so it was important to pass a budget without going into triple overtime. And people told us clearly they wanted a say on any transportation plan. Bypassing the voters would beg for voter backlash and an initiative to roll back the transportation taxes.
Lawmakers work for the people. We must try to carry out the will of the people. That’s the way to rebuild trust and get our state moving again.
Senators showed they were out of touch with the people when they complained about losing their private dining room and French chef. While most of them now really regret signing the letter Republican leader Don Benton put in front of them, it still sends a bad signal.
Voters recently passed an initiative banning steel-jawed leg traps. For the first time in history, the Legislature almost overturned an initiative right after it passed. In the Senate, most Republicans were joined by some Democrats to repeal it. House Democrats chose to respect the will of the people and blocked a repeal. Repealing initiatives passed by the people is a slap to voters. Politicians are saying, "We know better."
The same lack of understanding happened in the Senate over sending the transportation plan to a vote of the people.
Some politicians make a living by spreading distrust about their own democracy. Plenty of politicians will read you a long list of reasons why government is evil, but they don’t seem to have any problems cashing their taxpayer-funded paychecks. A recent guest column in this paper by Rep. Barry Sehlin ("State’s budget mortgages the future," March 23) criticized the Democrats for spending too much and for cuts to services. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t say a budget (a) cuts too little and (b) spends too much.
Everyone has a right to criticize, but legislators must be held to a higher standard. We have a responsibility to offer solutions. For the last three years, Republicans have yowled and screamed, but they’ve never offered a budget that showed us where they’d cut services or raise taxes to balance the budget. Why should voters trust lawmakers if we just play games and never offer real solutions?
Our budget is on paper to be judged. It has warts but it is a real solution.
Trust has to be based on leadership and real substance, not empty rhetoric.
We didn’t raise the sales or property tax to balance the budget. That’s not the right thing to do in a recession. Instead, we made tough cuts.
People prove when they vote for school levies and police bonds that they don’t mind raising their taxes for worthwhile services. They just don’t trust the Legislature right now. We listened. That builds trust.
Editorial writers are mad over the House Democrats insisting on a vote of the people. Listening is an important part of rebuilding trust. The people want lawmakers to listen. And this year, they told us they wanted the final say on a transportation plan.
The peoples’ faith in their government has fallen too low. It threatens our state’s future. We have to get the big money out of politics, make elections more representative, show people they are getting their dollars worth in government and show them that government listens to the people. That is a long project.
This paper’s editorial board criticized the Legislature for low expectations. For now, in a two month session with huge problems, it was time to work on the foundation. There is nothing more basic than a strong foundation. That is where we must start. Trust is the foundation.
Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish, is a small business owner who has served as a volunteer firefighter and chairs the Local Government and Housing Committee.
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