A Gathering Of Governors Former Chief Executives Warn Against Failing To Invest In Schools, Roads, The Environment

Four former Washington governors returned to their old haunts Thursday, reminiscing about old times and offering some pithy advice for the future.

The “Gathering of the Governors” conference was mostly low-key and upbeat, but the governors warned their successors and conservative legislators against keeping government on “autopilot” and failing to invest in transportation, schools and the environment.

Dan Evans, a liberal Republican governor who served from 1965 until 1977, was most pointed in his criticism - and it was aimed primarily at fellow Republicans who now control both houses of the Legislature.

Evans said voters “put government on autopilot” by passing Initiative 601 which limits spending growth to inflation plus population growth. But the current crop of conservatives is trying to make political hay by underspending even that limit rather than using the authorized capacity to invest in roads, higher education, public schools, the environment and other pressing needs, Evans said in a televised roundtable discussion.

He said legislators have compounded the problem by passing big tax cuts rather than salting away the current surplus for use when a recession inevitably comes.

“We are making the next recession a whole lot worse,” Evans said.

He also accused some legislators of trying to dismantle education reform.

Evans and former Govs. John Spellman, another Republican, and Democrats Albert Rosellini and Mike Lowry all called on lawmakers to finance major highway improvements, saying the state’s economy is at stake.

The comments buttressed Democratic Gov. Gary Locke, who just a few hours earlier had chided Republican legislative leaders for ruling out a gas tax increase next year.

Locke also has called for a large state reserve fund and says any additional tax cuts next year must be fairly small.

The former governors said the main challenge facing the state in coming decades is how to accommodate a population boom, providing jobs, schools, services and roads - and not ruining the environment.

Spellman called it “growing gracefully.”

Evans said Washington is destined to be a Top 10 state in population and that jobs and growth should be distributed across the state, not just in Puget Sound counties, if at all possible.

The governors also decried a loss of civility in politics and the general attack on government these days. Several blamed negative media stories. Spellman said each officeholder seems to be a party of one, rather than working collectively.

Evans and Spellman urged leaders to stand up for the environment even when it’s unpopular. Evans said the governor’s “bully pulpit” must be used to educate voters on a variety of issues - such as tribal rights and diversity - rather than to retreat to the safety of popular issues.

“You shouldn’t run for governor just to occupy the office,” Rosellini said.

The roundtable discussion was sponsored by The Olympian newspaper, the secretary of state’s office and TVW, the state’s public affairs television network. Edited versions of the broadcast will be distributed to schools and libraries.

The fifth living former governor, two-term Democrat Booth Gardner, was ill and did not attend.