A poverty of riches

If you were to ask me last year what our state’s financial position would be, I likely would have given a fairly grim outlook. However, the state is seeing a boom in tax receipts so large it could make you blush. The opportunity to provide relief or prepare the state for future revenue decreases is ripe for the picking.

Unfortunately, the mindset of Olympia’s legislative majority is a poverty of riches. It favors growing an already bloated and unaccountable bureaucracy while doing the bare minimum with our $15 billion surplus to help struggling families recover from two years of economic hardship. Now, inflation is eroding their purchasing power at record rates.

I have been fighting for meaningful reform to state spending that provides sustainable financial relief for working Washingtonians. That includes property tax relief, sales tax reductions, and small business tax fairness all while maintaining and investing in essential services like quality health care, infrastructure, and education – without raising taxes.

State government shouldn’t necessarily operate under a framework of more is better for the simple reason that it continuously demonstrates it can’t deliver on the promises it’s made. Just look at the budget being worked on this year for transportation. The proposal does make needed investments in our state’s aging infrastructure, but it’s an uncreative package that spends $16 billion over the next 16 years funded with billions in higher gas taxes and huge licensing fee increases that will hurt those who can least afford it.

The Senate Republican alternative approach gradually shifts tax revenue from vehicle sales for use on transportation. Non-partisan analysis has shown that this method provides more funding for infrastructure without new revenue. It also won’t jeopardize maintenance projects as cars become more efficient and use less traditional fuel or shift to electric, biodiesel, or other alternative fuels. The considerable surplus we have allows a generational solution that’s fair and sustainable.

As a member of the Ferry Caucus, I’m pushing to fill the gaps in our fleet, funding 5 new ferries, and working on broader structural problems that have plagued the system. That’s not an overnight fix, but with an eye toward innovation and accountability we will get there.

The final budgets remain to be negotiated by the end of the 2022 session on March 10. If anything close to what the legislative majority is proposing is adopted, state spending will increase over 20 percent from the last two-year budget. Peoples’ budgets are already stretched thin and now must pay for over 1,000 new “priorities.”

Recently, a contributor in Forbes mused on this concept of a poverty of riches and his conclusion struck me. He says, “more is an insatiable disease.” He cited a conversation with John D. Rockefeller when asked, “How much money does it take to make a man happy?” Rockefeller replied, “Just one more dollar.” For the past several budget cycles, that seems to be the refrain of state government, and we need to find a cure.