Rossi proposes series of budget control policies

Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi has used the pre-primary week to roll out a series of policy proposals that he aims to implement if elected to keep the state's projected budget deficit at bay. Over the last week, the campaign issued a set of three campaign promises to highlight a few of the steps Rossi would take to tackle potential budget problems if elected.

The first one proposed constitutional amendment to reinstate spending limits. Citing the Senate Ways and Means Committee staff report that projected a $2.7 billion budget deficit for the next biennium, Rossi said he would seek to amend the state constitution so that spending limits in accordance with 1993's Initiative 601, which placed annual spending limits on state general fund expenditures tied to inflation and population growth, would be held firm.

Rossi claims that legislators have since circumvented I-601, and LEAP numbers show that the spending remained relatively close to growth pacing through 2006, but since then spending has grown at a greater rate that projects into the deficit.

"The first thing everyone needs to understand about the deficit is that we have a spending problem, not a revenue problem. No one should feel guilty that they are not sending enough money to Olympia - the problem is that Governor Gregoire and the legislators have spent it at an unsustainable rate," Rossi said. "In order to stop the bleeding and get our state on a fiscally sustainable path, we must bring our spending back in line with recurring revenue growth. The people have shown support for spending limits and a Constitutional Amendment would keep out-of-control government spending in check. The fact is, if I-601 were still in place our state would not be facing a multi-billion dollar budget deficit." 

In part two of his series, Rossi proposed to reduce the size of the governor's office, which has grown greatly under Gregoire. Rossi proposes to decrease spending in the governor's office by ten percent, resulting in a $6 million savings for the state. Spending has grown from $33.5 million in 2004 to $61.5 million recently.

"I recognize that $6 million is just a drop in the bucket in solving a $2.7 billion deficit, but this will help send a message that the days of bloated bureaucracy in Olympia are over," Rossi said. "Leadership must start at the top, and I believe the governor should set an example for the other state agencies and departments."

To conclude the series Rossi shifted to hiring, saying that he would implement a freeze on both hiring and discretionary spending. This mirrors the same call that Gov. Gregoire has made, which he says does not go far enough. Further, he linked spending growth to what he said was a lack of value for the money.

 "Under Governor Christine Gregoire, the size of the state government continues to grow while state services do not improve," Rossi claimed. "Over the past four years the state has budgeted for an increase of more than 8,000 new full-time employees - a case of the Governor for the Government caring more about creating more bureaucracy than providing efficient services to the people.

"To ensure real savings, we should implement a reasonable, responsible and detailed plan to freeze hiring like the one proposed by State Senator Joe Zarelli that addresses both the massive expansion of state government and Gregoire's $2.7 billion deficit. Gregoire's recent call for a hiring freeze was short on specifics and leaves us with little assurance that the agencies will actually implement this hiring freeze. Asking nicely may score political points, but does not mean that an actual hiring freeze will occur."

Rossi says he would halt the hiring of any new employees, and would only bring in one state employee for every four who leave, with the exception of certain public safety, education and social workers. He says that under those rules after one year, state government would shrink by nearly 2000 workers and cut $135 million from the general fund budget.

Beyond that, Rossi would cut executive branch consulting contracts by 20 percent, and travel and purchases by 10 percent to save $180 million. Gregoire, too has called for cuts in travel and purchases, but Rossi says his more stringent cuts would save twice as much.  

On budget matters, where Rossi has tried hard to make inroads among voters, Gov. Gregoire maintains that her administration has acted responsibly. She has said on numerous occasions that acting on projections is inappropriate since they are just that, projections. She repeats on the campaign trail that Washington is presently one of a handful of states in surplus, and said last week that Washington is, as a result, the "envy of the country."

"Gov. Gregoire has worked hard to ensure that Washington is prepared for tough times," her spokesman Aaron Toso said. "She championed the voter approved and constitutionally protected Rainy Day Fund and worked to protect taxpayers by calling a special session to reinstate the 1% property tax cap."