Sen. Zarelli statement on approval of 2009-11 operating budget

April 25, 2009

OLYMPIA… Sen. Joseph Zarelli, Republican leader on the Senate Ways and Means Committee, issued this statement regarding the Senate’s approval of a 2009-11 operating budget, which completes the Legislature’s work on the new spending plan: 

“People who will be negatively affected by this budget – particularly our most vulnerable citizens, parents, students and teachers – need to know it didn’t have to turn out this way. The members of the majority party can argue they had no choice but to cut what they did. They can claim they did the best they could under the circumstances. But there’s too much evidence to the contrary. 

“The cuts may not be as deep now as the Senate originally proposed, but this budget is just as unsustainable. It’s built on billions in one-time dollars – federal money and transfers from state funds, including an unprecedented raid of almost 800 million dollars from the capital budget. Selling bonds to help pay for operating costs is a bad, bad move. And I don’t know how the majority party calls it an ‘all cuts’ budget with those 100 million dollars in new taxes. 

“Factor in the deferred pension payments and the caseloads that are continuing to grow at a substantial rate, and two years from now we are likely to be in worse shape. All this budget really does is put a tarp over a very deep hole. 

“Our colleagues across the aisle didn’t move quickly to reduce spending – maybe because they didn’t know what to do, or because they were waiting for the federal government to deliver them, or both. Second, they ignored what even the governor saw as an opportunity to reform the way state government delivers services. In the end, all they could do was hack away at what should be priorities. This budget reflects a series of bad choices that stand to cost our state for years.” 

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For more information contact Eric Campbell
at (360) 786-7503 or campbell.eric@leg.wa.gov