OLYMPIA – Responding with a deliberate sense of urgency to the state’s budget situation, Senate Democrats today announced an early round of savings and cuts in state government operations.
“We’re tightening the state’s belt, and we’re starting with the Legislature,” said Sen. Rodney Tom, D-Medina, vice chair of operating budget for the Senate Ways & Means Committee and prime sponsor of the Senate Bill 5460. “We’ve got bipartisan support to make these cuts now, and we’re moving them forward on a fast track.”
SB 5460 reduces the administrative budget for legislative and judicial agencies by 4.4 percent – which is in line with the governor’s executive order for all state agencies (the governor does not have the authority to set legislative or judicial budgets). It also freezes salaries for exempt and management state employees (which the governor did not do), extends the state hiring freeze, freezes state equipment purchases over one thousand dollars, and freezes travel and training not directly related to services.
The bill, which is expected to save $105 million in the 2007-09 biennium, will be heard in the Senate Ways & Means Committee on Thursday, and could receive a vote on the Senate floor as early as Jan. 28.
Senate Democrats annouced plans for other early cuts as well.
Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver, is developing legislation to significantly reduce the number of state boards and commissions.
“All these boards and commissions exist for a sound reason, but this is an unprecedented budget environment and we feel it necessary to redirect any state funding they receive to more essential state services.”
He’s proposing to eliminate, suspend, consolidate or make self-sustaining over 100 boards, commissions, task forces and study groups. He said his bill will exclude higher education boards, boards with federal funding, and boards created because of a constitutional requirement.
“It’s too early to say how much we’ll save with this idea, but it will surely make state government leaner.” said Pridemore.
Brown said that today’s announcement is the first step in an ongoing process of gathering ideas for cuts and bringing them forward. She said that, while the Legislature will pass a supplemental budget for current biennium in addition to the two-year buget for the 2009-11 biennum, the proposals announced today are not it.
The next revenue projection will be announced on March 19, and although the $600 million gap in the current biennium is anticipated to grow, it is hard to estimate by how much, Brown said.
“In the Senate, we’re prepared to write a full budget like you build a house: Measure twice, cut once,” said Brown. “We want to be quick and right, not just quick.”
Brown noted that the supplemental needs to be part of a systematic approach to the budget, and should not be divorced from the biennial budget writing process.
“We don’t want to allow short-term savings turn to into long term costs,” said Brown. “We won’t make any program cuts without having a dialogue with the public to understand their full impact. We want to avoid making things worse for hardworking families who are struggling just to get by.”
For more information:
- Jeff Reading, 360-786-7845
- Chris Mulick, 360-786-7535
- Rick Manugian, 360-786-7569
For interviews:
- Sen. Lisa Brown, 360-786-7604
- Sen. Rodney Tom, 360-786-7694
- Sen. Craig Pridemore, 360-786-7696