Posted on 03/21/2005 8:29:25 AM PST by truth49
If you're not already angry at what Olympia is trying to get away with, you will be by the time you're done reading this column. Let's start with some recent headlines:
``Forecast jumps by $739 million, but Democrats say tax increase still likely'' (King County Journal)
``New Figures Shrink State Shortfall by a Third; the bad news: Gap is still about $1.5 billion'' (Seattle Times)
And then this in the Seattle P.I.:
``The new forecast cut the projected shortfall from $2.2 billion to $1.5 billion''
Shortfalls? Short of what, exactly? Gaps? A gap between what, precisely?
Here, in straight, clear terms, is what you haven't read about budgets and tax revenue in Olympia so far.
The current state budget, which runs two years and ends June 30 is just under $23.3 billion. The amount of money the state has available for that budget is just under $24.1 billion. In other words there is a surplus of about $835 million. These numbers come from the state's Office of Financial Management.
In the next two years, the state's chief economist estimates that nearly $24.9 billion will flow into the state's coffers. Even if there was no surplus, that would still allow the state to have a budget that is 7.1 percent higher than the existing budget of $23.3 billion. That's more than twice the rate of inflation.
So where's the shortfall?
The governor's office, along with leaders in the Democrat-controlled House and Senate, are operating on the assumption that Washington needs a budget that is nearly four times the rate of inflation - a 12 percent increase that would push the biennial budget to about $26 billion. That's where the ``gap'' emerges. And that is why we're being told that even with the improving economy and higher tax receipts in Olympia, a tax increase may be necessary anyway.
Not only is a tax hike unnecessary, it shouldn't even be allowed, legally.
This state has a law (RCW 43.135) that limits how much the budget can rise, courtesy of voter-approved Initiative 601, which was passed by an angry electorate during the Lowry era. The spending limit agreed to by the Expenditure Limit Committee, which includes legislative leaders in both parties, is $25.1 billion, or about a billion dollars less than the amount being sought by Gov. Gregoire and her legislative allies.
As the always alert Evergreen Freedom Foundation points out, this is a law, not a suggestion. Democrats are hoping to simply ignore it by passing another law abrogating it as they did earlier this week when they passed a bill to strike down the supermajority required to raise taxes.
To sum up, when you combine the current surplus with the forecasted revenue for the next two years, Olympia will have a total of $25.7 billion to spend for a budget that by law should be no higher than $25.11 billion.
There is not ``shortfall'' or ``gap'' between revenue and the existing budget, or even the next budget within the legal spending limit. There is only a gap between a budget than can rise more than twice the rate of inflation versus one that would rise nearly four times higher than inflation.
But that is what you voted for.
Oh wait, no you didn't.
John Carlson is founder of Washington Policy Center and can be heard daily from 3-6 p.m. on radio station KVI-570. His column appears every other Sunday. Readers can contact him via e-mail at jcarlson@ fisherradio.com.
John Carlson BUMP People in WA never seem to get tired of voting to have thier taxes raised, then complaining about the Republican President afterwards... Sigh.
Where is the outrage that Gregoire fradulently became Governor???
ping
Washington, like California before them, got "high" during the boom years in the '90's. Very, very few seemed to care. The price, now, has come due.
Ping!
Correct. The Republicans did the usual mannerly thing and look to a packed state court system to do the right thing. The Ukrainian courts were clearly influenced by the massed demonstrations and ruled the Yanukovych election invalid. Without those demonstrations, the rigged election would have prevailed just like is likely is Washington state.
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