WA Senate Republicans float solution for budget

Washington Senate Republicans believe they’ve found a “third way” to address the state’s operating budget deficit that doesn’t involve raising taxes.

The caucus rolled out its version of the budget Tuesday — a week before the Office of Financial Management will provide an updated revenue forecast on the state’s financial situation.

Washington’s vastly outnumbered Republican Party was the first to release a formal budget proposal. With Democrats in control of the legislature and the governor’s office, the plan will likely face a rocky road in the weeks ahead.

“We’re the minority party and our job is to provide options,” said Sen. Chris Gildon, R-Puyallup, operating budget leader for Senate Republicans.

Gildon said lawmakers began hearing about a budget deficit in November, which was pegged at $4 billion, but that deficit estimate has since climbed to $15 billion following the unveiling of Gov. Bob Ferguson’s plans last month.

Ferguson’s proposal, which includes about $4 billion in savings, combined with former Gov. Jay Inslee’s $3 billion in decreases, would cut $7 billion in state programs and services. Ferguson’s plan also suggests $13 billion in new taxes over four years to support new spending.

“This is a very unserious document, more akin to propaganda than any real thing,” Gildon said. “If I were to create the document that would scare people so badly by cutting things no one wants to cut and make them beg for taxes, that’s the document I would have written.”

The Senate Republicans’ proposal places the deficit at about $6.6 billion, which Gildon said was determined by nonpartisan staff. He said the governor’s larger estimate is inflated by $4 billion in collective bargaining agreements to increase pay for state workers, $1.75 billion in what he called “layaway” policies and several other policy items.

The Senate Republicans project 5% growth over the next two years, which would result in $75.6 billion in total state spending. Gildon said the plan would increase funding for K-12 education as a percentage of the budget for the first time in six years.

The cuts would exclude care for seniors, behavioral health treatment and people with developmental disabilities.

“I think that this budget actually does address the true need,” Sen. Nikki Torres, R-Pasco, said. “It is really important to take those the most vulnerable into account and place them first, because they’re the ones that usually get left behind.”

The Republican proposal forgoes previously negotiated collective bargaining agreements made by Inslee that would use $4 billion to increase state workers’ wages, alternatively presenting each employee with a $5,000 bonus paid over two years.

Gildon said the raises worked out by Inslee are “financially infeasible,” and their alternative is a progressive bonus structure that helps people at the lower end of the economic scale.

He said the $5,000-per-person raises would cost around $420 million, which would create more than $3.5 billion in reduced expenditures.

The plan also calls for $1.75 billion in savings by not implementing layaway policies, or bills passed by the legislature as far back as 2021 that weren’t paid for at the time.

It would also fund the Working Families Tax Credit using Climate Commitment Act dollars that Gildon said should be allowable by law as it is listed within the bill.

The proposal has faced criticism from Sen. June Robinson, D-Everett, Senate Ways and Means Committee chairperson. She claims the plans fail to fund state employee bargaining agreements and relies on the Climate Commitment Act for unrelated programs.

Robinson was also appreciative of the work Senate Republicans have put into creating their proposal and being engaged in the conversation.

Gildon said there are risks to releasing the party’s proposal ahead of the Office of Financial Management’s revenue forecast, set to come out Tuesday.

“We wanted to put this out into the public sphere for scrutiny,” he said. “All they’ve been told so far is either slash or tax, this is a third way. … The public having time to view it, scrutinize it, to verify the truth of it, is more important than delaying.”

Pearce can be reached at epearce@dnews.com.