On her way out, retiring Rep. Hankins sees bleak future for GOP

Rep. Shirley HankinsThe Tri-City Herald has video footage from Rep. Shirley Hankins' (R-Richland) press conference Wednesday where she made her retirement from the state House of Representatives official. Most notable, though, is Hankins' thoughts on the legislature, and the unforgiving words she has for her own Republican Party.

Hankins was also critical of a number of state policies, most notably the budget. She complained that Republican insistence on lower taxes is nice and all, but does nothing for the long term status of the state.

"We have a lousy tax base, it's not dependable," Hankins said. "It's the sales tax, folks. You know, when we are getting ready to go in a slump, and we are ready to do that, our tax base just goes berserk."

Meanwhile, she feels her own party lacks what President George Bush once called "the vision thing."

"The Republicans don't have a plan," Hankins said of her Party's caucus. "There is nothing new and there is just not a plan to proceed to get this state on track."

On the flip side, the long-serving Hankins praised the ruling party and it's leader, Rep. Frank Chopp (D-Seattle).

"This man's got a plan to the year 2020," she said of Chopp before drifting back to the topic of the GOP. "You really need to start thinking seriously. All of this conversaion about cutting taxes or changing fees or having initiatives, that isn't a plan for this state.

"I love going to the Dem caucus," Hankins added. "It's exciting because they are in their little categories and they all have a say. Sometimes it takes a while to get that many people organized but I will tell you one thing. When they are organized you can't beat them, and we don't have that kind of organization.

Speaking to the impetus for her decision to call it quits, she said one factor was that the last legislative session was "an absolute nightmare." Hankins continued, predicting that Democrat Carol Moser does not have a chance at election in the Republican district. Still, she is not endorsing any of the candidates running for her seat, and called them all "interesting". But in the context of her statement, such a description did not appear overly negative.