A promising path to reform

To explain the legislative paralysis in Olympia, veteran Sen. Jim Kastama (D-Puyallup) uses an analogy. Think of state government as a bus, he says, where every interest group and lobbyist has a seat — and a brake lever. Once the bus starts moving, anyone aboard can stop it.

It’s a system that limits most of the work to the margins, preventing serious reform. Even in the current fiscal crisis, the budget will end up being balanced with a mixture of cuts to important programs, tax increases, use of remaining reserves, account transfers (borrowing, essentially) and one-time federal help.

Tax revenues are projected to remain relatively flat in the coming years. Still, government services won’t be reprioritized to any meaningful degree this year, and so the root of the state’s fiscal problems will be kicked further down the road, where they’ll grow even worse.

Reform? Restructuring? Any serious change? Forget it.

Part of the problem, to be sure, is that one party controls the Legislature and the governor’s mansion. If Republicans had any real leverage, more progress might have been made on basic reforms.

But it’s folly to think of that as a complete solution. The power of special interests would still hover imposingly over the Capitol.

Kastama and a bipartisan group of moderates think they have a solution. It’s worth a try.

They propose creating an Agency Reallocation and Realignment of Washington (Arrow) Commission, possibly comprised of distinguished and influential names like former Govs. Dan Evans, Booth Gardner and John Spellman, and former U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton, among others.

Their charge: Examine all of state government and recommend how to provide needed services within existing revenues for the next six years. In other words, lay on the table the tough decisions the Legislature seems powerless to make.

Then, like the proposals of the federal military base-closure commission, the Arrow Commission’s recommendations would be voted up or down, as is, by the Legislature — no amendments allowed.

Kastama’s bill didn’t get to the Senate floor this session, but is currently in the Senate’s budget bill as a proviso. Negotiators should keep it in the final budget bill when they return for a special session this week. Then, the governor must resist the predictable calls from the special-interest fringes to veto it, with one exception: Its work mustn’t be exempt from public disclosure.

Congress, which is at least as dysfunctional as our Legislature (and for mostly the same reasons), recently refused to approve a similar commission, one that would have made tough recommendations for reducing the federal deficit. President Obama created one himself, but Congress will be free to ignore it, along with our worsening fiscal crisis.

Our state can do better. Take the brakes away from the special interests.

Talk to us

More in Opinion

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., leaves the House floor after being ousted as Speaker of the House at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Editorial: ‘This is the Republicans’ civil war,’ not Democrats’

Reps. Larsen, DelBene put responsibility on GOP to end its fight and agree to a budget deal.

toon
Editorial cartoons for Wednesday, Oct. 4

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Why has Providence hosptial not improved nurse staffing?

I am writing as a concerned citizen and a supporter of labor… Continue reading

Willis Tucker Park’s staff should switch to vinegar to kill weeds

After reading the article about Snohomish County Parks Department using Roundup spray… Continue reading

Years of work with Johnson proved ability to serve as sheriff

In my career of over 40 years working in and with law… Continue reading

Comment: U.S. greatness at heart of why it must support Ukraine

The U.S. holds that mantle; as it did in World War II, it’s responsible for defending democracies.

Comment: Young activists taking climate crisis case to courts

Even if lawsuits fail, there activists win by raising awareness and laying the groundwork for future campaigns.

toon
Editorial cartoons for Tuesday, Oct. 3

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

3d rendering Stack of vote button badges.
Editorial: Bring Davis, Hoiby to Marysville School Board

Both women have deep ties to the community and demonstrate commitment to students and families.

FILE — In this Sept. 17, 2020 file photo, provided by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Chelbee Rosenkrance, of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, holds a male sockeye salmon at the Eagle Fish Hatchery in Eagle, Idaho. Wildlife officials said Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021, that an emergency trap-and-truck operation of Idaho-bound endangered sockeye salmon, due to high water temperatures in the Snake and Salomon rivers, netted enough fish at the Granite Dam in eastern Washington, last month, to sustain an elaborate hatchery program. (Travis Brown/Idaho Department of Fish and Game via AP, File)
Editorial: Pledge to honor treaties can save Columbia’s salmon

The Biden administration commits to honoring tribal treaties and preserving the rivers’ benefits.

Patricia Gambis, right, talks with her 4-year-old twin children, Emma, left, and Etienne in their home, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019, in Maplewood, N.J. Gambis' husband, an FBI agent, has been working without pay during the partial United States government shutdown, which has forced the couple to take financial decisions including laying off their babysitter. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Editorial: Shutdown hits kids, families at difficult moment

The shutdown risks food aid for low-income families as child poverty doubled last year and child care aid ends.

There’s no need to reduce carbon emissions; plants need CO2

National Geographic states that “Most life on Earth depends on photosynthesis.” Photosynthesis… Continue reading