OLYMPIA — Lawmakers trudged toward the end of the special session Monday night knowing they will soon be home defending what they did this year.
Democrats can expect tough questions on why their majority party is imposing one of the largest packages of tax increases in state history to plug a $2.8 billion hole in the budget.
Some of their political futures — and their party’s control of the Legislature — may hinge on how well they explain where nearly $800 million in higher taxes on beer, pop, candy, bottled water, cigarettes and small businesses will be spent.
Lawmakers debated how to pay for state government through 60 days of regular session and 29 more in overtime. Monday, as they worked to finish and head home, Democrats talked proudly of their response in a recession that has choked the flow of tax dollars into state coffers while driving up the number of people seeking public services.
“It’s easy to defend what we did,” said Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish. “You’ve got to keep the education system and safety net functional. That’s what we did.”
Republicans feel confident their constituents will laud their attempts, albeit unsuccessful ones, at erasing the red ink with means other than taxes.
They’ll be speaking a lot about how Democrats overspent in good times and put the state in a position of battling budget deficits for at least three more years.
Still, their prospects for capturing control of either chamber this fall pivot on convincing voters that the alternatives they offered this year would have matched the accomplishments of Democrats without higher taxes.
“Our work to bring solutions to the table, to offer alternatives to new taxes, to provide places where we could restrain the growth of government and solve this budget crisis without raising taxes, that was good work,” said Rep. Norma Smith, R-Clinton.
“The fact that that was not part of the final solution is what they have to live with,” she said.
This November, expect much of the same back-and-forth when 123 of the 147 seats in the Legislature are on the ballot — all 98 in the House and 25 in the Senate. It’s a time when voters can reset the political balance in Olympia, which is why Democrats want to be sure something other than taxes are talked about this fall.
They are taking the long view, pointing out how two years of declining revenues has led to layoffs of 10,000 state workers, axing of funds to public schools and colleges, and paring of 35,000 low-income adults and children from state-subsidized health insurance.
This year would have been worse if they didn’t come up with new revenues.
“It’s more than defensible, it’s responsible,” Rep. Mike Sells, D-Everett, said Monday, adding they’ve made $4 in cuts for every $1 raised in taxes.
“I think they’re going to respect the decisions we’ve made,” he said. “Do I like some of the tax decisions we made? Not really, but they were responsible decisions.”
Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, who doesn’t face re-election, said it’s going to be “very difficult” for her colleagues on the campaign trail. They can claim the high road for having acted.
“The easy vote is ‘no,’ ” she said of Republicans. “The hard vote is ‘yes,’ and, believe me, they are very hard.”
Rep. Dan Kristiansen, R-Snohomish, said Democrats’ position “is going to be very tough to defend.”
“They’re going to say it’s for the kids. Was it for them or to them?” he said. “Why do they always have to go back to education and health care and human services? Because that’s the emotional ploy they always use.”
He said he’ll enjoy talking with constituents and telling them, “I stood up for not raising taxes or overturning the will of the people and came up with solutions for the economy, but none of those solutions were followed.”
This fall may be toughest for moderate Democrats like freshman Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens.
While he voted against the large tax package and the budget, his party passed them both and the GOP will hold him accountable by association.
When he holds town hall meetings this weekend, he won’t be surprised if fellow Democrats criticize him for siding with Republicans on those votes.
“For me, my votes are defensible. I’m representing my constituency,” he said. “It is extremely hard for a moderate to defend yourself because you always have someone from the right or the left that wants to attack you.”
Sen. Rodney Tom, D-Medina, said his party brought some of the criticism upon itself for not cutting deeper into government spending by doing such things as eliminating the office of the state printer.
“I think we could do better,” he said of the final budget agreement. “I think we owe the citizens the best that we can do and I don’t think that this is the best product that we have.”
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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