By any measure, it doesn’t pass the smell test. As Senate Democrats last week blew a $2 billion hole in the just-approved state operating budget, they exposed the seamy underbelly of political gamesmanship, eschewing compromise and negotiation in favor of extortion. The result is a steaming mess for taxpayers.
Last week, lawmakers finally agreed to a long-overdue, long-negotiated spending agreement for the next two years that was dependent, in part, upon the suspension of Initiative 1351. Voters had approved I-1351, which mandates a reduction in class sizes for public schools, with 50.96 percent of the vote in November. And while the measure was well-meaning, two facts point out the need for the Legislature to suspend the will of the voters: The Office of Financial Management estimates that implementation would require $4.7 billion in state spending over the next five years; and the measure provides no funding mechanism.
After months of negotiations, lawmakers arrived at a deal that provides $1.3 billion in new spending for K-12 education, with the understanding that a two-thirds vote in both chambers would suspend I-1351. The plan was signed by Gov. Jay Inslee — and it was only then that Senate Democrats polished off their monkey wrenches and limbered up their throwing arms. When senators considered suspending I-1351, 17 of them — including Sen. Annette Cleveland, D-Vancouver — voted against tabling the initiative, leaving the plan short of the two-thirds requirement.
“That was really unfortunate,” Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, told The Columbian. “Never once on the list of problems, of potential problems, did this come up.” Meanwhile, Sen. Andy Billig, D-Spokane, defended his “no” vote by saying, “The voters deserve a thoughtful discussion, not a suspension of their will in the middle of the night.”
