Dear friends and neighbors,<\/p>\n
Throughout my time serving in the Senate, I have never voted against a final operating budget \u2014 until today. I cannot in good conscience support a budget that raids the pocketbooks of our cities and hampers my local school districts\u2019 ability to plan their upcoming budgets.<\/p>\n
This budget does nothing to delay the impending fiscal disaster our local school districts are facing. During the recession, lawmakers temporarily hiked the amount of money schools could raise through property tax levies so that school districts could make it through the recession. This temporary increase is set to expire at the end of August 2017.<\/p>\n
I support extending this deadline out another year. Unfortunately, this budget failed to do this and now school districts are going to struggle to hire new teachers and plan their budgets responsibly.<\/p>\n
Additionally, I am disappointed that this budget unfairly sweeps a successful loan program, the Public Works Trust Fund, which local communities rely on for critical infrastructure improvements. Since it was founded, the public works fund has awarded more than 2,000 loans and grants totaling more than $2.2 billion, and every loan has been repaid in full. We are now claiming to be fiscally responsible by balancing the state budget, but the reality is we are raising the cost of paying for your local utilities, which is not good for the residents of Washington.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, the budget passed both chambers and is now headed to the governor\u2019s desk. However, next year is a whole new ball game. I will work hard to ensure your local tax dollars stay local so that our schools can continue to be the best in the state and our cities have the resources they need to strengthen their infrastructures.<\/p>\n
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