Liquor board ticks off the guv, will it get toasted in the budget?

It seemed so simple.

The Legislature yanks about $80 million from the Liquor Control Board budget and the Liquor Control Board approves a plan to yank $80 million from consumers through a price hike.

Except board members didn’t give the governor – who appoints them – a heads up before they acted today. She didn’t appreciate it.

“I think they got out in front of their head lights,” she said, referring to them voting to raise prices before she’s decided whether to cut their budget as the Legislature proposes.

What should they have done?

“They need to know it takes the vote of the governor to sign the budget. If they were going to do this they could have at least called Marty (Brown, her senior advisor) or myself and said should we proceed.”

Will the Liquor Control Board pay a price for this breach of protocol? Could members’ terms expire sooner they think?

Gregoire’s reply to such wonderment: “Remember that’s one of the boards that I said should be gotten rid of.”