The U.S. Senate again delayed a key vote on giving $25 billion more medical- and school-funding aid to the states Monday. Meanwhile, Democratic leaders in Washington state ruled out holding a special legislative session to fix budget holes related to the lack of federal aid.
Gov. Chris Gregoire had set a Monday deadline for Democratic leaders in the state Legislature to say whether they could bring their caucuses to town for a short special session. Without the federal help that the U.S. Senate might give, she fears a $300 million deficit that requires immediate spending cuts.
Even so, her spokeswoman Karina Shagren said Gregoire hasn’t announced a decision on how to bridge the looming budget gap.
“We’ll see what Wednesday brings,” Shagren said. “The governor is working with other governors to see that a vote gets taken Wednesday and it gets pushed through.’’
The alternative to a special session is having Gregoire, a Democrat, order cuts of up to 4 percent that fall across the board – nicking prisons, health care, higher education and other programs equally.
The Republican minority in the statehouse says across-the-board cuts are a terrible way to cut the budget, but majority Democrats say it is quicker and politically easier than bringing lawmakers to town in an election season when agreements are harder to reach.
“My personal view is we should continue to do the across-the-board cuts – cuts that could only last from now until we go back into session in January,” House Ways and Means chairwoman Kelli Linville, D-Bellingham, said Monday by telephone. “I think going into special session, there is no guarantee there will be any agreements.”
“We believe that the governor should first take across-the-board cuts and not call a special session. To methodically go through and do selective cuts would require time. And somehow in the middle of the campaign session I’m not sure that’s the best reason,’’ added state Sen. Ed Murray, the Senate Democratic Caucus chairman from Seattle.
Indeed, House and Senate Democrats run the risk of aiming for a special session of a few days, then watching their caucuses blow apart in disagreements that drag out for the full 30 days that the state constitution allows for a special session. That’s pretty much what happened in April after majority Democrats failed to complete a revenue package and budget during their 60-day regular session. Hopes for a quick deal disappeared as lawmakers battled for 30 days to find agreement, and aides to Gov. Gregoire say she doesn’t want to see that again.
But Republicans say across-the-board cuts hit worthy programs just as hard as those that can afford reductions – with Sens. Mike Hewitt and Joe Zarelli saying in a letter to Gregoire last week that cuts would hit the developmentally disabled, for instance, at the same rate as they hit tourism programs.
“The lawmakers who have led us into this deficit should have the guts to step up and solve it, not pass off their responsibility,” House Republican Leader Richard DeBolt of Chehalis said in a statement he released Thursday after talking with Gregoire and other legislative leaders.
Republican Rep. Gary Alexander of Thurston County said he’s willing to lay out some specific ideas for cuts – including dropping the eligibility limit for the Basic Health Plan and perhaps reducing the so-called Disability Lifeline help.
Brad Shannon: 360-753-1688
bshannon@theolympian.com
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