Pain before taxes
Washington state faces a $4.6 billion shortfall due to declining revenue.
Most people agree it is hard to make up the difference with new or increased taxes. We are short on jobs, short on business revenue and we are taking less money home while paying more for — everything.
Basically, the public is running out of money to keep paying more and more taxes to keep bloated governments afloat.
Government spending cuts are painful. Some people will lose jobs and some people will lose government services.
Gov. Chris Gregoire announced her plan for the 2011-2013 state budget.
It cuts $3 billion in spending and should save $1.1 billion more.
A few changes include folding 21 state agencies into nine. The move eliminates 36 boards and commissions, and shifts authority from 16 boards to state agencies. It is projected to save $30 million.
Eleven natural resources agencies are being consolidated into the state departments of ecology (DOE), agriculture, natural resources (DNR), Puget Sound Partnership and the new Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Do we need a state department to handle conservation and recreation when both the DOE and DNR continue to operate?
The pain comes from the cuts.
The new budget eliminates the Basic Health Plan, saving $230 million by removing the health insurance of 66,000 low income individuals.
It eliminates the Disability Lifeline grant for 28,000 temporarily unemployable people and the Disability Lifeline Medical Program for 21,000 people, saving $327 million.
The state will save $860 million by suspending the Student Achievement Program (I-728) for smaller classes and “professional development for teachers.”
Salary increases for teachers (I-732) are eliminated, saving $280 million.
Money paid to teachers for working with large classes in elementary schools is cut, saving $216 million.
State employees are having their salaries cut by 3 percent to save $176 million in state funds.
State park funding is being eliminated to save $47 million.
Closing McNeil Island Corrections Center by April 2011 will save the state $17.6 million.
The list, provided by the governor’s office, is not a complete list of the $3 billion cut from the budget.
It is impossible to cut that much from the state budget without pain.
But why send a list emphasizing education, health programs, state parks and closing a prison?
A political tactic is when making budget cuts, to make those cuts as painful as possible. First, it distracts us from the programs and agencies being left untouched or being added to. Second, when the public starts to howl over education and health care, they will agree to paying more taxes to save the beloved programs.
It is still possible large cuts are going to be made to a few of the state’s sacred cows. The DOE could lose a great deal of the additional spending and employees they received over the last few years. The state could cut all DNR funding to buy private land, usually farms, for animal habitat. They could sell the giant fleet of state vehicles used to drive employees everywhere.
Without a detailed look at the state budget, it is hard to know if the cuts are to all agencies or just a few. But we hope they are looking at retaining the greatest value for the reduced budget and not playing politics.
To cause the most pain just to sway the public’s will into accepting more taxes is contemptible. It is underhanded and wrong. There are many state agencies whose loss does not leave a person in pain or cause them to go homeless. They should be cut first and deeper than any other.
— Editorial board