Posted on 05/23/2005 11:12:16 AM PDT by truth49
When adopting the record $26 billion tax-and-spend 2005-07 budget, the legislature and governor with each tax increase and spending addition signaled their intent to carve R.I.P. on the tombstone of Priorities of Government (POG) budgeting. POG, the highly successful and renowned budget process that requires state officials to prioritize all state spending within available revenue, was used in crafting a no-new-taxes 2003-05 budget under the direction of then Sen. Dino Rossi and former Governor Gary Locke.
In fact, current Governor Christine Gregoire, prior to signing the tax-and-spend $26 billion budget, highlighted the states nomination for Harvards Innovation in Government Award for the POG budget process used by Rossi and Locke.
Ironically but thankfully, despite abandoning POG budgeting for the 2005-07 budget, the governor recently signed a bill (HB 1242) that will require her office to use Priorities of Government budgeting for future budgets.
Among the provisions of HB 1242:
While its good to know these common sense budget requirements are being reemphasized, its troubling they werent already being done. That aside, guess you could say Gregoires signature on the nearly-unanimously approved HB 1242 may put POG back on life support. The key to Priorities of Government budgetings successful return to health, and incidentally the outlook for the states budget, will be whether or not the governor and legislature are able to comply with the laws provisions. Based on the budget shenanigans displayed this past session, we all will need to keep a close eye on how state officials implement this potential breath of life for POG.
Down with demoncRAT Fraudooire and her minions in the Legislature that pulled off such atrocities in this year's legislative session.
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