Message from the governor

We face unprecedented times. Few alive today have witnessed a recession of this magnitude and length. Those who have understand that the choices we face are tough and leadership is critical. They also know that our better days are ahead of us — that we will emerge stronger, more efficient and more effective.

The budget I am proposing for the 2011–13 biennium is not a budget I ever expected to see in the state of Washington, and the choices in it are the most difficult ones I’ve ever faced. It reflects the stark fact that we have increasing caseloads, rising costs and decreasing revenues. It reflects the voices of thousands of Washingtonians who presented ideas and solutions over the past several months. It reflects the desire of the public to balance the budget with all cuts and no new revenue. And it reflects how government, by necessity, will be smaller, do less and focus on core functions.

The reality of this recession is that it has dismantled many of the programs that I, and millions of others in the state, value. They are the programs that protect our most vulnerable. Programs that provide health care for the less fortunate. Programs that help our schools deliver a first-class education for our children. Programs that provide the safety and security that Washington values.

In any other time I would not sign this budget.   

It’s difficult to support something that goes against all we have accomplished over the past six years. But these are the circumstances we find ourselves in, and we have been left with few choices. 

Forty-eight states faced large shortfalls for their 2009–11 budgets, shortfalls that were caused by the largest decline in state tax revenue on record.

Washington was not immune from these national trends. We did not sit idly by — instead we took immediate action to close a $12 billion shortfall over the past three years. We cut state spending by $5.1 billion. We shrank the public work force by 8,200 people, instituted temporary layoff days, froze travel and eliminated other expenses. 

I wish I could say that things have improved for the 2011–13 budget period. Unfortunately, they have worsened. It continues to get more expensive for the state to provide the same level of services. Demand for state services is at its greatest when the economy is at its worst. The fact is that it will cost us more than $2 billion more to provide the same services in 2011–13 as we did in 2009–11. We simply have more people we must serve, and that costs more money.

While our costs continue to rise, revenue growth is stagnant. Our most recent state forecasts were jolting. In September the state lost $1.4 billion, and in November the state lost an additional $1.2 billion. As we plan our 2011–13 budget, we face a $4.6 billion shortfall. On top of the cuts we’ve already made, our options are limited. 

But we must not only cut, we must restructure, modernize, prioritize and position our state as a 21st century government. 

It’s not just about this crisis — it’s about setting our state on a trajectory that ensures a strong financial foundation for our kids and grandkids.

We turned to the people of our state to solicit their solutions to the crisis — from state workers who see money-saving ideas every day, to citizens who’ve made changes in their lifestyles to adapt to the recession, to a group of citizens whom I asked to serve on the Transforming Washington’s Budget Committee. We conducted town hall meetings in Tacoma, Everett, Spokane and Vancouver. We launched a website and received more than 2,000 ideas and 137,000 votes on those ideas, which generated considerable dialogue.

We revamped the Priorities of Government process to focus on essential values and ask critical questions to determine which programs we should continue to fund, which should be changed or consolidated, and which should be eliminated. These critical questions helped us find programs we could require others to fund and those we could improve through the use of performance incentives and contracts.

The result is a 2011–13 budget that contains devastating reductions, but also major transformative ideas to prepare our state for a new fiscal reality.

But the bottom line is that these cuts will impact people. The safety net will be stretched thin in some places and eliminated entirely in other places. For the functions that government no longer will be able to provide, we must turn to neighbors, private charities, faith-based organizations and other local programs. Our communities, more than ever, will be asked to step up.

One point I want to make perfectly clear: State employees will do their part to help us get through this recession. We are proposing to cut pay, have the cost of health care inflation borne by our workers and reform state pension plans. But we must continue the important work performed by our state employees and ask for shared sacrifice, not demand that they shoulder the whole burden.

We will come out of this “great recession,” but it will take time. State revenues typically lag about two years behind the recovery, so while we know better times are ahead, they will not arrive in time to impact this budget. 

My priority is to make sure that when the economy begins progressing, we are ready to take advantage and emerge from this crisis stronger than ever. I am proposing a series of policy changes to help us thrive. We will make state government operate more efficiently and effectively by consolidating agencies and offices and eliminating programs, boards and commissions. We will recover more of the costs for state-provided services through user fees. A number of agencies will be eliminated completely and some institutions will be closed.

These initiatives are just the beginning. I am committed to transforming the state budget and transforming the way in which the state works for Washingtonians. The steps I am proposing will radically alter the landscape of state government. Legislators have a big challenge before them, but together we will make reform happen.

We will do what we have to do to get through these rough times. We will lay the foundation for a future that will once again reflect the values of Washingtonians. We have a difficult job to do, but I believe we can do it.