State government’s budgeting process has become progressively less open and transparent in recent years, to such an embarrassing extent that any effort to inform and involve taxpayers is a step in the right direction.
o What: Gov. Chris Gregoire’s public budget hearing
o When: 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday.
o Where: Clark College, Gaiser Hall.
From that standpoint Gov. Chris Gregoire’s decision to hold four public budget hearings, the third of which will be Tuesday evening at Clark College, Gaiser Hall, deserves credit. So, too, does her creation of an advisory committee formed to challenge budget assumptions — on which I’m happy to serve.
But even more important is public participation in the budgeting process. That’s where you come in. The governor has described this process as a new, open door for the public to help craft our state budget and offer ideas for how it can be done better. I encourage you to take her up on it.
I wasn’t able to attend the second budget hearing, in Everett, but was present at the initial meeting in Tacoma. Although the hearing was well-attended, the majority of public comments were about why we should maintain spending in specific areas. Anyone hoping to hear ideas for serious government reform — or get a sense that certain interests are ready to accept a smaller piece of the budget pie — probably left feeling underwhelmed.
If the governor wants the Vancouver meeting to be more focused on identifying state government’s most important priorities and how to deliver them more efficiently, she could say right off the bat that she will do what former Gov. Gary Locke did in 2002: commit to producing a “Priorities of Government” budget based on our most important needs that depends only on existing revenue — not new taxes.
Or, in addition to breaking state spending into “value areas,” her budget staff could also detail our largest expenditures, such as state employee pay and benefits. Perhaps the governor could even offer, for the audience’s benefit, examples of what she means when she says there are “no more sacred cows.”
When Gregoire unveiled her new budget strategy, a news reporter asked what she thinks state government will look like in the future. Her reply deserves to be repeated Tuesday, to set the tone for the meeting: “It’s a new day, with a new structure. All of us are going to have to step up … we can’t turn to state government and expect it to do it all … we’re going to have to say some of the things people have relied on — some of the things that I would say to you are good — can no longer be performed by state government.”
Focus on core priorities
The governor is right. The time has come for government to focus like a laser on its core priorities. We must ask not for more government programs and what they can do for us. We must ask what we can give up and how we can live within our means.
This change of course is welcome and anything but premature, considering another shortfall of at least $3 billion is just around the corner. If the governor and her party’s budget-writers ever are going to recognize that it’s foolish to push for even higher taxes or keep counting on federal help, now is the time. A reset of government is the only responsible option left. The Priorities of Government process worked before to get government growth under control, and it can work again.
Just how much the governor’s budget proposal will be influenced by the public’s input at these four meetings and an advisory committee won’t be known until December. And the real work will begin in January, when legislators convene with Gregoire’s proposal in hand.
But it’s not too soon for taxpayers to make their voices heard by asking tough questions about spending choices. I hope that’s what Tuesday’s meeting will be all about.
State Sen. Joseph Zarelli, R-Ridgefield, is Republican leader on the Senate Ways and Means Committee.
