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State lawmakers should not
ask voters for tax increase
Special to the Seattle Times
by Rep. Gary
Alexander
State lawmakers in Olympia are poised to abdicate their place of
leadership and punt one of the biggest, most impacting issues we've seen
in decades to the voters this fall.
I'm talking about the solution to our state's $8 billion budget
shortfall.
Instead of making the difficult decisions voters elected them to make,
the Legislature may seek the easy way out. There will be nice speeches
about accountability and responsibility, but, in the end, budget writers
in both the House and Senate will attempt to dupe the voters into buying
off on a package of tax increases as the only way out of our budget
crisis.
To the taxpayers of this state, the message received will have the
familiar ring of a historical, revolutionary maxim: Let them eat cake.
Some may say I'm going out on a limb with such a Nostradamus prediction.
But I'm not reading tea leaves here. I'm looking at the actions — or,
should I say, inactions — of the majority. Democrats control both the
House and the Senate.
We're at the end of the sixth week of session and we've yet to send one
meaningful state spending-reduction bill to the governor's desk. We've
been relegated to taking small steps by passing "budgetary-reduction"
bills that have more language than substance and reaffirm state-hiring
and travel freezes that amount to a gentle lean in the right direction
rather than a good solid step.
The strategy employed by budget writers appears to be to wait until
Obama Claus comes through with federal tax dollars to fill part of the
budget hole. Then, scream bloody murder and capitulate to special
interests at taxpayer expense.
Republican legislators have been told the solution to our state's budget
dilemma will be a bipartisan one, although the house of cards which
formed the structure of our budget deficit was not.
Fueled by an apparent addiction to spending, the Democrat majority in
the Legislature increased the size of the state's operating budget by 33
percent in just four years. Republican legislators, who, for the most
part, have been locked out of the budget-writing process during this
time, warned of excessive spending on new entitlement programs.
"We can't continue to spend more than we're taking in!" we'd say, at
every opportunity. And yet, each quarterly revenue forecast would show a
strong economy bolstered by historic gains in the construction and
housing industries.
In essence, the Legislature spent more money than was coming in, but
rolled the dice anyway and was continually bailed out by a strong
housing market. Now that we've rolled "snake eyes," it's time to pay the
house.
The Legislature's inability to say "no" over a four-year period turned a
$1.6 billion surplus into one of the largest deficits in state history.
It will be the Legislature's inability to say "no" again that will lead
to the biggest gamble yet: a significant tax increase sent to the voters
in November.
My hope is that the people of this state show more backbone than the
Legislature and reject any tax increase put before them. We don't need
another bailout at taxpayer expense.
(Rep. Gary
Alexander, R-Olympia, represents the 20th District. He is the ranking
Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee.)
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For more information, contact:
Brendon Wold, Senior
Information Officer: (360) 786-7698
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