Lawmakers confident of plan

OLYMPIA – It seems only appropriate: In soggy Olympia, one of the biggest points of agreement between Democrats and Republicans is the subject of rainy days.

As in, saving for them.

Gov. Chris Gregoire and lawmakers from both parties say the state is on a budgetary roller coaster. Government grows in good times and shrinks – or raises taxes – when the economy sours.

“We’ve got to have a savings account,” Gregoire told Capitol reporters recently.

So, lawmakers passed Senate Joint Resolution 8206. It asks voters to approve a constitutional amendment creating a hard-to-tap state “rainy day fund” for emergencies or economic downturns. Each year, 1 percent of the state’s revenue – about $150 million – would automatically go into savings. It would start with a significant deposit: about $430 million.

There would be only three ways to spend that money:

“If 60 percent of lawmakers agree to it.

“If job growth is at a near standstill, meaning the economy’s in a serious slump.

“Or if the governor declares a state of emergency.

If the fund ever reaches 10 percent of state revenue, any extra would go into the state’s school-construction fund.

Proponents say it just makes sense for the state to set aside some hard-to-spend savings for hard times. Business groups and Republicans, particularly state Sen. Joe Zarelli of Ridgefield, have for years championed the idea as a way to restrain spending and ward off taxes.

Few, if any, lawmakers would argue that a state savings cushion is a bad idea. But some House lawmakers balked at the constitutional lockbox that proponents want. In essence, House budget writer Rep. Helen Sommers has said, lawmakers are trying to protect the money from themselves. A little self-restraint, she says, is really all that’s needed.

“I think it’s foolish, thoughtless, highly political and a huge mistake,” Sommers, D-Seattle, says of the constitutional restrictions.

There hasn’t been much campaigning around the issue, although Gregoire has repeatedly spoken publicly in favor of the change. Pollster Stuart Elways says that Washington voters for years have supported substantial government reserves, and he predicts that the measure will pass handily.