Wouldn’t it be Nice if the Next One Went a Little Smoother?

By Erik Smith

Staff writer/ Washington State Wire

OLYMPIA, July 8.—Senate Republican leaders are calling on the governor to do a little more planning next time she calls lawmakers back to town – a prospect that seems to grow every day that Congress fails to provide the $480 million in Medicaid money on which the state was counting.

            In a letter to Gov. Christine Gregoire, Senate Minority Leader Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla, and Sen. Joseph Zarelli, R-Ridgefield, say it might be nice if the governor works out a plan before she calls a special session. And if she calls legislative leaders together, the Republicans say they want a seat at the table.

            The alternative, they say. is a special session that goes like the last one – 30 days of breast-beating and public posturing in which Democratic leaders strike a deal behind closed doors during the final hours.

            The letter says, “The last thing Washington’s already beleaguered taxpayers need is to pay for 147 legislators to spend a month or more in Olympia haggling and horse-trading over details of a new spending plan. Instead, they deserve a process that is open and bipartisan – in the spirit of your recently announced budget-transformation effort – and focused on producing long-term savings that will address our state’s unsustainable spending problem.”

            It’s a timely suggestion – a bit early, perhaps – but the clock definitely is ticking.

            Governor Sets Aug. 9 Deadline

            Washington, like 30 other states, built its budget on the assumption that the Obama Administration and Congress would provide additional Medicaid money for the states. Washington is so close to the wire that if the money doesn’t come through, the state budget will be in the red.

            That leaves the governor with the choice of ordering across-the-board cuts in state programs or calling the Legislature back into session to deal with the budget hole with more precision. In a news conference two weeks ago, the governor said she can’t wait forever, and she will have to make tough decisions if Congress fails to act before the August recess, which begins Aug. 9.

“If they don't get it done by August recess, I don't see them getting it done, and I can't wait,” she said. “I know there’s some speculation that they will do it after the election. Well, what if they didn’t? What if they didn't? I know if I have to lay one person off today and I wait till the end of December, then I have to lay two off in order to make it through the fiscal year, and I don't think that's responsible.”

           A Fine Mess

Was it a good idea to build a budget on money that wasn’t in hand? Gregoire points out that it appeared in the president’s budget and it was passed twice by the House and once by the Senate. That seemed good enough for Washington and most other states that wrote budgets in the springtime. But when it came time for final passage, Congress balked.

The Republican leaders say the promise of one-time federal money became an excuse to not make deeper cuts in state spending, and they warned at the time that it was a dangerous assumption to make. Now they say the federal money looks less likely with every day that passes.

In an interview Thursday, Hewitt said his gut feeling is that the money won’t come through. “I don’t think it will,” he said. “It’s not that I have any inside information. But Congress has been watching too many incumbents get thrown out of office after 25 to 30 years because they voted for spending bills.”

How the state gets out of this one is really the governor’s call, Hewitt said. But if the governor decides on a special session, he said there ought to be an agreement beforehand, so that lawmakers can wrap things up quickly – perhaps in a day.

Of course, Hewitt’s party is in the minority in both houses of the Legislature. There’s no telling if Democrats will be inclined to invite Republicans to sit with them. “Almost every year we ask that we get the leaders together to see where we are beforehand, rather than have everyone sit around and decide what the size of the box ought to be.”

But that’s the way things usually seem to turn out, Hewitt said.

            The Governor’s Options

Actually, the governor has plenty of choices. She has the ability to order across-the-board cuts in state-agency budgets – most guesses indicate 7.5 percent would be required. That wouldn’t require a special session. On one hand, the governor apparently would not be able to leave a reserve. That would leave the state vulnerable to even the slightest downturn in state revenues over the coming months. On the other, Senate staffers say, the governor might be able to suggest that state agencies cut even deeper. That would leave the state some wiggle room.

If she calls a special session, there’s a question of timing. A new revenue forecast is due in September, and it might make sense to wait for that. But that comes in the midst of the election season, and state rules say lawmakers can’t raise money while they are in session. After the election, as the governor observes, cuts would have to be deeper.

And then there’s the possibility everyone under the dome seems to hoping for. Congress still might come through.