Democratic Leaders Hoping Congress Will Spare Them From a Tough Call

By Erik Smith

Staff writer/ Washington State Wire

OLYMPIA, Aug. 3.—Congress spared legislative Democrats from making a tough decision Monday as a deadline imposed by the governor for a decision on a special session came and went.

            An unexpected move in Washington. D.C. to reconsider additional Medicaid money for the states gave Democrats in this state reason to put off the special session decision to another day. But after a day of dithering in Congress, it appeared unlikely that a vote would take place before Congress leaves for its summer recess. Nor did Congress seem any closer to saying yes.

            The U.S. Senate scheduled a vote on the Medicaid money Monday, worth $25 billion to state governments. Washington is one of more than 30 states that passed budgets counting on it. But by the end of the day, Democrats in the other Washington had trouble rounding up the votes and they postponed the Senate vote, possibly until Wednesday. Meanwhile, the U.S. House adjourned for the summer, meaning that a final vote from Congress can’t come until at least Sept. 14.

            Washington had been expecting $480 million from the feds. Lawmakers left a little money unspent when they passed they budget this year, but if Congress welshes on the promise, they’ll be about $300 million in the red. That means state government spending will have to be cut.

            The governor says she can’t wait. The longer she waits, the deeper the cuts will have to be. Last week she asked legislative leaders to decide by Monday whether they would return for a special session to help her cut spending. Republicans have said yes. But her own party has been reluctant, because a special legislative session in the middle of an election season is fraught with political peril.

            May Leave Governor High and Dry

            Karina Shagren, spokeswoman for the governor’s office, said Monday that the state continues to await word from the other Washington. The latest news at the end of the business day Monday was that the U.S. Senate still might take a vote by Wednesday. “We’re not giving up on that quite yet,” she said.

            The additional Medicaid money for the states has become a political football in Congress. It was included in President Obama’s budget and several early bills in Congress, but opposition to it has grown because of public resistance to big bailout bills. Meanwhile, Washington and other states have been kept waiting.

The governor had said earlier that the August recess was her drop-dead date. If lawmakers are willing to come back to Olympia for a quick special session, they can make surgical cuts to the state budget, cutting low-priority programs and letting the most important programs survive. But if they won’t help, the law allows her to make only across-the-board cuts that apply equally to everything. Cuts of 3.5 to 4 percent would be required.

Democrats in this Washington are every bit as conflicted as the Democrats on the other side of the country. They hold the majorities in the House and Senate, and the real power in spending decisions. But their last special session, earlier this year, was widely regarded as a disaster, as legislative leaders spent a month coming to agreement while their troops sat idle. During an election season, a repeat performance could go over badly. Meanwhile, it would prevent members from campaigning or raising money.

Several influential Democrats have said they would prefer to let the governor do the dirty work. As recently as last Wednesday, House Ways and Means chairwoman Kelli Linville, D-Bellingham, and House Finance Chairman Ross Hunter, D-Medina, sent a letter to the governor saying she ought to do the job, without going into the reasons.
            Influential Democratic lawmakers say they would prefer to avoid a special session -- among them Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, who argues that a special session would become "politicized." But none of the Democrats have responded officially to the governor's request for a decision. The challenge came Thursday in a conference call to legislative leaders.

            Makes Decision Difficult