Political fodder for the state GOP: a very red budget outlook
A few weeks ago, I reported that minority Republicans in Olympia were spinning election-year conspiracy theories. Why? Because Gov. Chris Gregoire's budget office has stopped producing six-year budget outlooks.
Sen. Joe Zarelli, R-Ridgefield, predicted a long-term outlook would show the state facing a $2 billion budget shortfall by 2013 - a number that wouldn't help Gregoire any on the campaign trail. In an effort to confirm his suspicion, Zarelli recently asked the non-partisan staff at the Senate Ways and Means Committee to crunch the numbers.
That report is back and it's even worse than Zarelli's prediction. It shows Washington facing a $2.5 billion shortfall in six years. The state would still have an estimated $1.5 billion rainy day fund. But Zarelli says that nest egg should remain off limits unless there's a real economic emergency.
Not surprisingly, the $2.5 billion number has immediately become political fodder. The State Republican Party sent out a news release, as did GOP gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi. Rossi writes: "These are the numbers that Christine Gregoire does not want the public to see."
Previously, Gregoire's budget director, Victor Moore, told me the reason he stopped doing six-year outlooks is because they're notoriously unreliable. Other budget experts will back him up on that.
The next report that's sure to become a political football is the state's updated revenue forecast. It's due out on Feb. 14. The question is, will Forecast Council Director Chang Mook Sohn send Gregoire or Rossi a Valentine with his projection?
Comments:
Posted Thu, Jan 31, 4:16 p.m. inappropriate
Joe Zarelli?: Do you mean the Joe Zarelli who while a state senator stole $12,400 from the Washington taxpayers when he illegally accepted unemployment benefits for 25 weeks while employed as a legislator, that Joe Zarelli? Oh yeah, I bet the Governor is quivering. Whatever you say Austin.
Posted Fri, Feb 1, 7:10 a.m. inappropriate
How about telling the truth to the Voters BEFORE the election?: Sohn is retiring and his office has been predicting a budget shortfall for almost 2 years. It's not much of a "political Football " if there is only one team on the field, Democrats run the show at almost every level of goverment and have for decades. Apparently they only want to take credit and place blame rather than make the hard decisions. Every day we hear from Olympia another bill that wants to restrict this or prohibit that or impose a tax or license fee. Real debate about the budget and the impacts on the people are lacking unless you want to hear the endless drumbeat about establishing an INCOME TAX. Maybe we simply don't have people capable of living within a budget in positions of responsiblity.