Democrats who control the Washington Legislature have denied that bills to recognize same-gender marriage have been a distraction.
Even before the session began, when Senate Minority Leader Mike Hewitt said the issue might divide a Legislature facing tough budget choices, Gov. Chris Gregoire said: “We’re big boys and girls” and can handle more than one substantive issue.
The previous month, Gregoire herself had worried about the Legislature’s willingness to grapple with the budget crisis in a timely manner. But once the accusation of dawdling had been taken up as a partisan issue by some minority Republicans, Gregoire stopped wondering – at least in public – about that leisurely pace.
Free of the governor’s scolding, legislative leaders were able to invoke the operative phrase for the 2012 session – haste makes waste and is irresponsible as well.
Yet whether lawmakers are big boys and big girls doesn’t take away from the reality that the first 30 days of this session have been pretty shy on budget and pretty heavy on gay marriage. No other bill, for example, required a press release (and sometimes a news conference) when each undecided legislator became decided, followed by a series of news releases commenting on that legislator’s press release.
According to some minority Republicans, small issues such as plastic-bag bans, limits on the powers of the Republican attorney general and resolutions against the war in Afghanistan (not that wars are minor, just the Washington Legislature’s influence over them) have taken up limited time as well.
Legislative leaders have dismissed those charges as well.
“In any session there are big issues and some pretty small issues that if you don’t agree with you call distractions,” said Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown last week.
Don’t worry, the talking point seems to say, we have time for it all – big issues, small issues, foreign policy, Dairy Day. Which is true, I guess. But where exactly are those big issues?
Another incremental education reform bill has been sidetracked by an intra-party feud over whether having enough votes to pass a charter schools bill should be enough if the committee chairwoman objects. Gregoire’s proposed barrel tax on oil refined in the state to pay for highway maintenance “has rolled away” according to Brown.
Death penalty, green energy, legal pot, state bank. All have been moved to the proverbial back burner – and the burner turned off. There are only two big issues, and with gay marriage all but final (at least until November) and self-imposed deadlines skimming most of the fluff off the top of the legislative latte, budget time may have finally arrived.
It sends an odd message, though, that budget timing in the midst of this supposed emergency is the same as in past years when the state was running surpluses – talk behind closed doors, wait until the late February revenue forecast, then rush budgets through quickly so as to thwart opposition and keep the rank and file in line.
Isn’t it hard to communicate that this crisis demands the first sales tax hike in nearly three decades with a business-as-usual pace?
Nevermind that. A budget solution that has been framed since November – at least in terms of how much must be cut and from where – likely won’t be approved until the waning days of this 60-day session. That means cuts will have to be deeper to compensate for the lost months of December, January, February and March. That, in turn, means any statewide vote on a temporary tax increase to soften the impact of cuts might not come until summer. Which means the amount it could collect even if approved is incrementally lower. Which means those deep budget cuts will have to go even deeper.
Yes, haste makes waste. But delay makes the hole deeper and the solutions more drastic. Surely there is something in between, but no one has a stake in finding it, not anyone with a vote anyway.
If pressed, budget writers will acknowledge such a reality. Just don’t accuse them of dawdling. Or being distracted.
Peter Callaghan: 253-597-8657 peter.callaghan@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/politics Twitter: @CallaghanPeter
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.