Legislative time crunch

The deadline is looming.

The Washington legislature is coming up against a hard deadline to avoid a government shutdown. Now, in its second special session, it has only until June 30 to pass a budget for the new biennium.

If the second session does not result in a budget, then the legislators will have to meet for a third special session. The current session ends June 21.

Even so, if a budget is not finalized by June 30, the state government may start to shut down. In fact, preparations for a partial shutdown are being made.

The sticking point is how to meet the Supreme Court mandate on support of basic education. This is the McCleary decision, of which the state is now in contempt for not coming up with a plan, despite already having infused education with an additional $2 billion.

A forced shutdown of government, even if only a partial one, is never the answer. The parties, however, are simply not able to come to an agreement. Most claim that negotiations are progressing in good faith and predict the deadline will be met. Still, only two weeks remain for a final budget.

Gov. Jay Inslee, in an effort to kickstart the negotiations, demanded that the legislature come up with a budget in time to avoid a shutdown.

The debates over the final state budget are nothing new. Washington legislators have met in special session for at least the last two biennial budgets.

The delays in formulating a final budget are caused by the same problem: balancing revenues with expenses. The two parties have different philosophies on how to do this. The Democrat governor wants increased revenues. In government, that means more income from taxes and fees. The Republicans want fewer expenses and object to more taxation.

It is an age-old debate. Somewhere in between a solution must be found.

The governor has made a demand that seems reasonable. He is calling for the leaders of the legislature of both parties to actually sit down and work this out face-to-face, rather than passing written suggestions.

It is not too much to ask, especially when so much is at stake.

Gordon Forgey

Publisher