Money time!
I believe the Legislature does its best work when we collaborate in a bipartisan manner. I have seen the positive results for the people of Washington State when collaboration is fostered and compromise is found. With the two main budgets we are working on right now, the capital and operating budgets, we have examples of both the fruit borne by bipartisanship and the challenges presented by a more partisan approach.
The Capital Budget
The capital budget was negotiated collaboratively with both Republicans and Democrats trading ideas and coming to a compromise. That means that everyone has items they like and probably some items they don’t like, but overall it represents a collaboration of diverse views of legislators from around the state.
I am particularly pleased that it includes funding for the following Spokane projects: Women’s and Children’s Free Restaurant, the Spokane Children’s Theater, the Mission Park Adaptive Youth Baseball Field, the Spokane Women’s Club, Corbin Senior Center, the NEWTECH Skills Center as well as the Valley Tech Skills Center, and funding to help clear housing from the runway crash zone at Fairchild Air Force Base.
The capital budget also includes items I don’t prefer such as a reduction in funds for clean energy programs that have produced results for our region, a re-prioritization of the Wildlife, Recreation and Parks program, and the failure to fund the City of Spokane Cleaner River Faster plan.
The capital budget is the product of compromise, and after weighing the positives and negatives I feel it delivers well for our state and our region. I plan to vote in favor of it in committee today and on the Senate floor tomorrow.
The Operating Budget
In sharp contrast to the bipartisanship of the capital budget, the Senate Republican majority decided to proceed on their own and produced a partisan operating budget that passed off the floor of the Senate on a strict party-line vote.
The Senate Republican budget contained some of the spending items that are important to our state but they paid for the budget with unsustainable and expensive gimmicks, including the long-term bonding of $200 million to pay for current year operating budget items. This is equivalent to paying for state government on a credit card. Their budget funds education with gimmicks, accounting tricks and one-time fund sources, when what we really need is a sustainable plan that we can rely on to pay for a great education for our children for years to come.
I voted no on the Senate operating budget, but I remain hopeful that we’ll be able to reach a more fiscally responsible final compromise that I will be able to support.
Budget next steps
Versions of both the capital and operating budgets will have passed both chambers by the end of the week, so now negotiations between the House and Senate will begin. Because the capital budget was bi-partisan in both chambers, the final negotiations should be concluded quickly. By contrast, the operating budget negotiations will take longer but I remain optimistic we will arrive a responsible and balanced final budget agreement before the end of the regular session on April 26th.
Our Page
The day-to-day work of the State Senate would not be possible without the Senate pages. Every week, a new group of high school students from across the state help us out by delivering messages, showing guests around and helping to make the Senate floor operate smoothly.
I sponsored Spokane-area student Hailee last week and she did a terrific job. When she is in Spokane, Hailee attends Mead High School and volunteers with City Gate Meals Ministry. She loves photography and theater, and someday hopes to be involved with journalism as a political correspondent. Thank you, Hailee, for representing our community so well!
Good Bye to our Intern!
Last week, a key member of Team Billig headed back to Spokane. Our intern, Maureen Haeger, completed the academic requirements from Eastern by working in our office and taking classes on legislative affairs.
Maureen stood out with her attention to detail, her positive attitude, and the way she truly listened to and cared about every constituent she worked with. Thank you for all your hard work, Maureen!
Keeping In Touch
If you have a comment, idea, or question, please let me know. I would love to hear from you! You can reach me by e-mail at andy.billig@leg.wa.gov or by phone at 360-786-7604.
If you know someone who would like to receive their own copy of my weekly e-newsletter, tell them they can go to my website at http://www.senatedemocrats.wa.gov/senators/billig/ and click on the link to “Sign up for my e-newsletter.”
Onward!
-Andy
