Suspending the law requiring a balanced budget is a dangerous cheat that hides the problem on paper – and dumps the cost on future taxpayers.
Rep. Travis Couture’s statement on the governor’s budget proposal:
“When the governor released his supplemental budget today, we honestly thought it was a prank.
“At a time when families are stretched thin, this plan grows government by another $1.1 billion, pushes spending past $79 billion, and does absolutely nothing to fix the mess that caused the shortfall. It’s more of the same reckless behavior – spend more now, worry later.
“The most outrageous part isn’t even the spending. It’s that the budget does not balance, ditching the balanced budget requirement.
“That rule exists to stop politicians from lying to themselves. Suspending it doesn’t fix anything – it just hides the problem on paper and dumps the cost on taxpayers later. Even Lt. Gov. Denny Heck warned this week that getting rid of the four-year requirement only delays the pain and puts Washington’s financial health at risk. Credit rating agencies have said the same thing for years.
“The governor also wants to drain nearly $1 billion from the rainy day fund – even though Washington already has the smallest reserves in the country. That fund is supposed to be for real emergencies, like flooding and wildfires, not for covering up years of overspending. Burning it down now leaves the state exposed when the next downturn hits.
“This is not an emergency. Revenues didn’t collapse – discipline and leadership did.
“Instead of fixing the problem, this budget relies on accounting tricks, raids dedicated accounts, shifts school construction money to paper over holes, and keeps using one-time cash to pay for permanent programs. Meanwhile, it cuts back child care help, delays care for seniors, shortchanges schools, caps support for working families, and ends tax breaks.
“Washington deserves better – and there is a better option.
“Last week, I released the House Republicans’ Affordability First budget framework- a no-new-taxes plan that protects core services and forces government to live within its means. It cuts waste, restores accountability, protects K-12 classrooms, restores Medicaid funding, and lowers health care premiums, focusing help on people who actually need it – not bureaucracy.
“Washingtonians don’t get to suspend their budgets when money gets tight. State government shouldn’t either.
“This budget isn’t bold. It is reckless and unserious, and it sure isn’t affordable. “Washington has reached its limit. It is time for results and real leadership.”