Free Republic

Audio link courtesy of TVW: 6/2/05 Inside Olympia OLYMPIA—Appearing on the June 2 edition of TVW’s Inside Olympia hosted by David Ammons, State Auditor Brian Sonntag agreed with the criticisms offered by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation (EFF) and Initiative 900 sponsor Tim Eyman concerning the performance audit law passed this session. EFF and Eyman have complained that under the new performance audit law (HB 1064), an unelected political board unnecessarily restricts the state auditor’s ability to conduct performance audits. The text of HB 1064 clearly states that the unelected board will “establish criteria for performance audits” as well as be...

Today, the Evergreen Freedom Foundation (EFF) released its Performance Audits Pledge Scorecard, comparing the promises made by candidates for the Washington state legislature against the actions taken by those individuals once in office. Nineteen (19) pledge signers violated their pledge, costing taxpayers their first real chance at truly independent, comprehensive performance audits. Last year, seventy legislators signed the Performance Audits Pledge, which read in-part: "I pledge to support independent, comprehensive performance audits of state agencies. The scope of performance audits should be established by the elected state auditor, not an unelected group of citizens appointed by the governor and legislature."...

Departing Governor Gary Locke says his proposed 2005-07 $26.2 billion budget has been scrubbed clean and only important state priorities are funded. This contention is crucial since his budget calls for a $2.9 billion spending increase over the 2003-05 budget (including a proposed $161 million 2005 supplemental budget) and is built on the assumption of a $598 million tax increase. With inflation for the next biennium forecasted at under four percent, Locke's 12.5 percent spending increase is more than three times the forecasted rate of inflation. Even without a tax increase, forecasted revenue for 2005-07 is actually up by nearly...

"It's tough being Republican in this state," Rossi joked with the crowd of 75 - mostly Republicans - who filled the reception hall at Hawthorne Funeral Home and Memorial Park. "You have to win three times." ... "Achievement and accountability have to be the cornerstones of the K-12 education system," Rossi told the crowd, who applauded loudly. "We cannot achieve great things by lowering our standards." ... He also said he approves of performance audits, which aim to reduce government waste and improve efficiency. "The first question always should be, ‘Should government be doing this function in the first place,'"...