The state Senate’s two-year experiment with coalition governing has reaped great benefits for the people of Washington. From its inception, the Majority Coalition Caucus has focused on a shared vision and set of principles that prioritized job creation, education and budget reforms.
We are a Democrat and Republican more interested in creating positive change for our state than in bickering over partisan politics.
We lead a coalition of 24 Republicans and two Democrats that represent a diverse geographic and political spectrum. Despite our differences, and the naysayers, we signed a pledge and made a commitment to greater collaboration and to focus on the goals that unite us. This sea change in state politics has produced real results unseen in years with single-party control in Olympia.
The coalition’s ability to prioritize and reset how Olympia does business has resulted in a number of “firsts” for the state in a short amount of time.
After 30 years where non-education spending grew at twice the rate of education funding, that devastating trend has been reversed.
Now education spending has grown at 12 percent, non-education at 2.6 percent. For the first time in more than two decades, college tuition has been frozen. For the first time in 6 years the state entered into a legislative session without a deficit. Veterans have in-state tuition without a waiting period for the first time. By promoting major reforms, the state now has a 4-year balanced budget — the first in the nation — that protects the vulnerable without raising general taxes and puts people and good policy over politics.
Former U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe says in her book “Fighting for Common Ground: How We Can Fix the Stalemate in Congress” that “the Senate’s path out of dysfunction leads through increased bipartisanship and cross-party consensus-building.”
While that is not currently happening in the other Washington that is exactly what the coalition is doing in this Washington. The original Senate budget passed 41-8, and the final compromise budget between both chambers passed with a vote of 48-1, a far cry from the party-line votes back in D.C.
People want their representatives to focus on solutions. The Majority Coalition Caucus is presenting a new kind of leadership built on mutual respect for differences, common goals and policy priorities. We’ve already proven that you can balance the budget, invest in education, stop severe cuts to higher education and maintain a rainy day fund without raising taxes.
The solutions to our state’s problems lay in our ability to work together to advance common-sense policies that reflect values and shared goals rather than special interests. By coming together we have been able to create an environment in Olympia that values differences. Sen. Tim Sheldon, D-Potlatch, says the Majority Coalition Caucus members have been “more accepting of dissenters than the Democrats,” adding, “For me, it has been a welcome change.”
The Majority Coalition has been successful and outlived its critics because it gets at the heart of good policymaking — the ability to define common values and goals. Having a coalition that represents the urban and rural, conservative, socially liberal and various political shades in between can be challenging. However, a foundation of greater bipartisanship has been built and it is our hope that this is just the beginning of many more “firsts” for our state.
Rodney Tom is the leader of the Majority Coalition Caucus. Mark Schoesler is the senate Republican leader.
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