Gregoire's budget battle with the Democrats

In the aftermath of the release of Gov. Gregoire's budget proposal, key budget-writers gave their reaction:

Senate budget Chairwoman Margarita Prentice and House Appropriations Chairwoman Helen Sommers both say they think Gregoire's approach of mixing spending with savings is headed in the right direction, although Sommers says she wants more money for higher education, pensions and possibly human services. But Minority Republicans expressed skepticism that the Democrats will be able to restrain themselves from spending more. Senator Joe Zarelli, ranking Republican on the Senate budget panel, said Gregoire's proposal doesn't meet the taxpayers' demand for frugality, coming on the heels of a two-year budget that raised spending by 12 percent and boosted taxes by more than 400 million dollars.

Historically, a governor's budget proposal is not what gets passed by the legislature, it's used as a guideline for the sorts of spending the governor will approve of. With that said, the Democratic reaction to Gregoire's budget proposal indicates approval for her message of being cautious with spending, but at the same time, more spending is needed? What??? More spending?

The underlying difference between Democrats and Republicans in Olympia (when it comes to money) is that Republicans view state money as belonging to the people of the state. Democrats view the money as belonging to the state to spend state lawmakers see fit.

During my radio news career, I had the opportunity to know a VERY Democratic man who is a small business owner and was Mayor of the City of Mount Vernon. One of the things that made him popular among voters was his policy on city taxes - if, come budget time, it turns out the city overtaxed its citizens, he gave the money back to the taxpayers, because is was the taxpayers money, not the city's. He understood that keeping the money would come back to bite his administration later on. Why aren't there more people like that in Olympia? I wish I knew.

MARK MY WORDS - Here's what we're going to see by the end of the 2006 legislative session: Democrats in the legislature will take Gov. Gregoire's budget proposal, tack on a number of additional spending bills, and once those bills are passed, claim a "budgetary emergency", requiring even more tax increases. Gregoire will sign those bills, and declare a "victory for those in the state in desperate need of social services previously underfunded". Republicans (the minority party in each body of the legislature) will call for a second recall of the estate tax (called the "death tax" by the GOP), a repeal of the latest gas tax, reinstating the I-601 spending cap, and the redirection of the $1.4 billion budget "surplus" toward items such as adequately funding the state's pension benefits obligations, increased funding for the state's beleagured Department of Social and Health Services Foster Care Program, higher restrictions/penalties for sex offenders, and a means to give B&O and L&I tax relief to small businesses. However, with the Republicans being in the minority, such demands will go unconsidered, unheard, and unpublished by the media. Print out my prediction, and look at it once the session is over. I think you'll find I'm correct.