When Bob Ferguson was state attorney general, I was so impressed with his win rate. I admired his skill in picking cases he could win for the citizens of Washington state; and there were many! We are all better off due to these efforts. That is why I voted for him for governor.
However, I have realized that the best attribute for a governor is not a win rate. It’s a collaboration rate. It requires working closely with the Legislature to find realistic and possibly creative solutions for the overwhelming problems we are seeing with the budget, homelessness, housing, health care, climate and our environment, not to mention the federal mayhem. Collaboration is hard work, reveals our vulnerabilities, and forces us to consider and support solutions we may not love.
Gov. Ferguson proposed a budget with $4 billion in cuts and a $10 billion deficit and then threatened vetoes on House and Senate budget proposals for progressive revenue that would have filled that hole. Are legislators just supposed to keep proposing new budgets until one strikes his fancy? This isn’t a win for any of us.
I challenge Gov. Ferguson to commit to working with legislators to hammer out a plan that will get us through this budget crisis with the least amount of damage to our most vulnerable.
Nancy Johnson
Edmonds
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