July 20, 2010 in City

Wash. governor launches website seeking budget ideas

OLYMPIA — Gov. Chris Gregoire wants state residents to sound off online with ideas on the state budget.

Gregoire announced Monday the launch of a website that allows people to suggest, comment and vote on budget ideas. The most popular ideas will be considered by the state’s budget writers.

The website comes the same day Gregoire’s budget staff started holding a series of hearings around the state to talk about the upcoming 2011-13 budget, which is already estimated to be short by at least $3 billion.

29 comments on this story so far. Add yours!

Orange on July 20 at 8:31 a.m.
Gregoire’s website adventures don’t seem to work that well. When she was AG, she had one for reporting spammers. Very lame and no feedback, regulation or enforcement came of it. Another feel good thing. Not this time though.
SpokaneLiberal on July 20 at 9:00 a.m.
Website costs are basically 0 (or should be) so getting some ideas isn’t a bad idea.
soccermomsusie on July 20 at 9:15 a.m.
Trim the fat! Fill in the potholes! Put Christ back in Christmas! An English only fiesta! Deport all the illegal immigrants that are crowding the streets of Spokane. Get Barry O’Kenyan to show his birth certificate, fascist/socialist/dadaist awards and Muslim ID card. Hands off our flag! No socialized medicine or socialized anything - especially socialized fascism. Ten percent off lattes at Starbucks if you are wearing a side arm. More subsidies for my Hummer. Remove the tax on soda pop and candy. Remove all regulations for all industries!
In other words, let go and let God! It’s just common sense and old-fashioned American values. John Ahern is the living embodiment of all these truths we hold to be self-examinationed.
HEAR OUR VOICE!!!
force_vector on July 20 at 9:29 a.m.
How hard can it be? SPEND LESS! I would even support a short-term tax increase in conjunction with an equal amount of spending decrease to fill the financial hole. That said, an income tax will not solve the problem because just like federal taxes, a majority will get them all back at the end of the year. I propose a 10% tax on all purchases made at Wal-Mart. That way we’d at least get 10% of the welfare money spent back to be put to use on things like filling potholes.
kikmik on July 20 at 9:31 a.m.
What are we paying this two-time election count loser $168,618.00 (2007 salary) for? It appears that she can’t stand the heat any better than she can manage the budget of WA state. What a disgrace to the citizens of this great state.
Posted by: A life time resident (66 yrs) of WA state.
Scoutster on July 20 at 9:38 a.m.
It’s beyond me why anyone would have a hard time with an elected official seeking comments from his/her constituents, whether it’s hand-written letters or skywriting.
winkypete on July 20 at 9:39 a.m.
heres a great idea, why doesnt the gov and the legislature just quit and go home and leave our pockets intact. we’ll save all their wages, and ours. then we can spend it in a responsible way, as good stewards of capital. and we’ll create real sustainable jobs, unlike those morons that are over there now.
I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL NOVEMBER–VOTE ALL OF THEM OUT!!!!!!
spokanada on July 20 at 9:50 a.m.
I too believe that if we put Christ back into Christmas that the state budget will be balanced. Heck, it might even cure cancer and maybe give us better weather next June.
I agree with Scoutster, if people don’t want their elected representitives listening to the constituents than maybe they should move to a non democratic country.
In other words, if you are so concerned with the country becoming “socialist” or “marxist” why are you complaining about a move that would embrace democratic ideals?
crikey on July 20 at 9:51 a.m.
soccermomsusie ~ You ROCK, Girl!!
getreal on July 20 at 10:18 a.m.
What’s the point. She isn’t interested in what voters want. Why do you think the State Legislature and Gregoire suspended the 2/3 requirement for tax hikes then raised taxes to cover the budget deficit! Voters aren’t stupid. We understand budgets and taxes. Voters understand making choices in how money is spent. Voters also understand not having their voices heard. Instead of listening and understanding voters, they circumvent the voters. Voters didn’t state …. you can’t raise taxes, voters stated it requires a 2/3 vote from the State Legislature to raise taxes. This requires both parties to work together for the common good of the voters. Why couldn’t the state get 2/3 majority to raise taxes? Did the others feel budget cuts needed to be made?
To cut the budget, Gregoire should be required to follow the same travel restrictions the state put in place. She should not be allowed to have her husband travel at taxpayer expense.
Why did Gregoire request to hire a speech writer for $65k per year during a hiring freeze?
Why did the State Leslature remove the hiring freeze and replace it with a hiring cap, which allows hiring?
Why can’t Gregoires cut part of her budget for her office and staff of 55 instead of spending the estimated $3,685,602?
Everyday, families of WA are faced with budget choices. Everyday families of WA are forced to live within our means, it’s time our Govt did too!
One way our State Govt could cut the budget is to stop paying for those expensive studies before anything can be done. Listen to common sense. You don’t need a study to tell you what common sense will tell you!
SpokaneLiberal on July 20 at 10:41 a.m.
getreal is the only person here to offer any solutions. Cutting the governor’s staff by half seems relatively reasonable and would save about 1.5 million. Cutting impact studies would cut costs, but it is a combination of state and federal law that cannot easily be eliminated, plus most evidence shows that in the long run not doing the studies doubles the long term cost. The question is - for those who want us to spend less - where do we get the remaining billion(s)?
“Trim the fat” - what exactly is the remaining fat? Public employees?? Most of whom live at or near the poverty line already (even if you cut every one of them to near the poverty line you would still be 800 million away)? Schools (can’t constitutional mandate)? Where is all the fat you want cut?
Soccermomsusie at first I thought your post was satire, since not one of those things save any money or raise any money, especially since most of them would cost money (10% Starbucks gun carrier subsidy, cutting sin/candy tax, etc) but if it isn’t satire it is just a sad example of why we want get anything done. Someone asks for ideas/solutions and we get crap about a fiesta, a certified birth certificate, and Christ in Christmas instead of solution. Christ is in Christmas, but is not in secular government - nor should he be.
remymartin on July 20 at 10:41 a.m.
Are you kidding me? She already knows what she wants and that is to install a state income tax! All of this rhetoric is designed to remove her part of the responsibility and to make us think we have a part in trying to fix the mess. If she was serious about a fix, look at Gov Chris Christie in New Jersey and she has the model.
Albert on July 20 at 11:00 a.m.
Soccermom said it all ! I might add that Chrisy really doesn’t care, but who knows, “we might get some points at the polls” will be the justification. In addition to Soccermom’s “to the point” suggestions, why don’t we cut the State “union protected” employees by 20%? Think about this…who really needs there non-productive services anyway??? Also cut the entire payroll of ALL State employees by 10% and pay ONLY 50% of their benefit package. Chrisy are you listening? I doubt it.
reservedparking on July 20 at 11:25 a.m.
“Remove all regulations for all industries!” ????????
Oh, sure, just look what that’s done for the banking & finance industry. The gulf oil spill. The list would go on. I cannot imagine the environmental tragedies that would ensue from this radical stance.
And by the way… they quit making Hummers.
lewis8457 on July 20 at 12:19 p.m.
Stop spending NOW!
No more new state employees
Make current state employees pay 50% of their benefits if they make over 48 grand a year. 35% if they make under.
All employees over 110 grand take a 20% pay cut.
No more early retire buy outs. a friend just retired form DSHS 5 years shy and they gave her 30 grand cash. And she still gets her retirement and benefit packages.
Gregoire wants to see who will agree to a state income tax. because that IS her plan.
Orange on July 20 at 12:22 p.m.
Like I said, the website is only set up to make all of YOU feel better about the budget. That’s her motive when she sets these up. Seen it before.
Diana on July 20 at 12:48 p.m.
Gee, soccermomsusie, whose values? Yours? NO THANKS.
empyrius on July 20 at 12:55 p.m.
Put Christ back in Christmas?!?!
That is kind of hard to do while he languishes in Guantanamo Bay awaiting execution!
You see, first Jesus got busted for distributing free food without a health card, and then the state busted him again for practicing medicine without a license (apparently he was healing people for free also); but it was when he claimed to be humanity’s Savior who is doing naught but God’s will the big time money changers, Goldman-Sachs (who claims they are doing God’s will), in collusion with right-wing Rabbis, set Jesus up as being an enemy of the state!
And of course since Jesus is an illegal immigrant from Palestine he does not have any Constitutional rights providing his day in court.
The American government, and its banker owners, labeled Jesus a terrorist, demonized him in the eyes of the American people (South Park had a two-hour special ridiculing this poor Jew claiming to be their king; a poor Jew claiming to be their king is comedy gold!), in truth the American government demonized Jesus the world over, and as a fitting gesture they substituted death by firing squad with nailing him to a cross!
And of course the soldier boys performing the execution alleviated their guilt by saying they were just following orders . . .
JBlim on July 20 at 1:00 p.m.
Lewis says:
“Make current state employees pay . . .”
Oh, yeah, that make sense because state employees are the ones who voted in the tax cut schemes but didn’t cut spending. Make a secretary or janitor somewhere pay for the actions of dim-witted voters.
mikeln on July 20 at 1:46 p.m.
We would get all the savings we need if we just would take a look at the huge profits government gives to buisness that do work for the state. The good old boys club is still at work, gougeing us anytime they get the chance. Restore the 78% cut to the office that investigates waste and fraud in washington state government, our elected officials cut funding for this before the budget problems to protect the good old boys, and themselves. They keep telling us that education, helping people get a hand up is the cause of our budget shortfall, when it really is paying too much for what we get get from private contractors. We need to elect people that will tell these people, either ask for reasonable profits, or we will find someone that will. In other words, no more kickbacks and perks ending up in the bank accounts of the people we elect. And soccermomsussie, there’s a reason to keep religion out of government, our forefathers knew the only way to advance society was to keep these kinds of fables out of true decision making. It was more of freedom from religion then anything else.
eagleproducer on July 20 at 2:39 p.m.
How about a progressive state income tax for those earning over 100,000.00 a year?
That sounds like a no-brainer but it is considered political suicide to even mention the idea. The wealthy in this state pay a disproportionately low percentage towards state services because of the regressive tax structure that places most of the burden on the middle class and poor.
Bill Gates supports a progressive state income tax. He’s the wealthiest man in the world.
MrNatural on July 20 at 3:24 p.m.
“Taxes are the price we pay for civilized society”
— Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes…
Seems like a congenial idea to solicit input…I wonder how many slanderous foul comments will be submitted?
SpokaneLiberal on July 20 at 3:44 p.m.
All employees over 110K taking a 20% cut. Tough, but not entirely unreasonable. It is worth noting that would only have about 250 employees out of about 64K taking a paycut for a total savings of about 6 million dollars. Even with a halving of the governors staff that still leaves of a billion dollars off. Over 65% of state employees make less than the median income for Washington. So these 65% that are already below the income of a normal Washingtonian are suppose to endure an additional match of 35% for their benefits? Even then (which is ludicrous, it would put 30K more Washington families into working poverty) I did out the math, the savings to the state of all of these draconian measures would only come to about $100 million. Where are you getting the other 900 million in cuts? This is essentially a back door tax on already barely surviving state workers - a tax that doesn’t solve any problems.
Lets assume that this incredibly regressive suggestion is implemented where does the other 900 million come from?
I wish we could get to the heart of the matter on kickbacks somehow. Maybe we can make the punishment so draconian it would actually be a deterrent. I don’t know how to stop kickbacks, but that is definitely an idea.
WillyPeter on July 20 at 4:47 p.m.
This is easy.
1) Quit spending. Don’t spend more than is taken in!
2) Grandfather current state employees. They get what they got.
3) but, cut new employees beginning salaries…accordingly. If previously the job paid 45K, now it would pay 43K. If it paid 65K, now it would pay 62K…etc.
4) Make the thousands of students attending state colleges and universities tuition free, pay tuition. And iIlegal alien students should at least pay out-of-state-tuition.
5) Quit paying university educators millions every year for double dipping…did you read that incredible story?
6) Quit caving to unions. Paying them for their votes is killing our state financially.
7) There is so much fat and waste in state government spending that it boggles common sense. If I were king, we’d start 2011 with a neutral cash flow.
8) The income tax comment is true, of course. If the gov’t can con the voters into voting for an income tax on the ‘rich’, you got to be living in a dream world to think that the income levels that are subject to that tax are not methodically lowered until the rest of us qualify. I am genuinely surprised that so many support this “sucker play.”
So get rid of our troubles…vote in new folks.
spokanecommunistparty on July 20 at 5:16 p.m.
Why are Republicans so evil? Tax the Rich.
liarsinnews on July 20 at 11:35 p.m.
Gregoire`s nose grew 2 feet on this BS immediately after she put out another lie.
SpokaneLiberal on July 21 at 9:29 a.m.
Willy,
1. We don’t. Every year the budget is balanced unless revenues come up long or short. But again, since we have a deficit of revenues now we have to figure out where to either take in more or spend less. The ideas for spending less and taking in more are addressed below.
2. By grandfathering current employees we get no savings now, which means even the 100 million number I quoted from someone else’s suggestion becomes 0 leaving us a billion or so under your goal of revenue = expenditure.
3. Cut new employees salaries. This would save a pittance, Maybe a million this year since there are very few new state employees. Still a billion off
4. No one attends college tuition free. Some students get need based grants from the state to help pay the portion of the “estimated cost of attendance” that the feds say they are too poor to pay. But that grant, the state need grant, lets say was eliminated completely you now have about 250million in savings, but also an estimated 45000 students who can no longer afford to attend college. Still now we are 750 million off.
5. Double dipping. Definitely have to stop this. Based on the article I read ending this practice could save the state about 45 million bucks.
6. Quit caving to unions. This is actually covered in #3 since it was the only proposal actually listed that saves money from union employees.
7. Waste and Fat. What? Where? Get specific so we can cut (this is actually one of the points of the website). At the moment to balance the budget with your other cuts that kick 45000 students out of college we still need 700 million plus (on a 1 billion dollar shortfall) to balance it. I can’t think or where that much waste and fat exists but am happy to listen.
8. Maybe the tax is going to trickle down, maybe not. If it does use the amendment or referendum process to stop it for 2 years (untouchable). But you want us revenue neutral and we are 700 million off that (assuming no repeals of the candy tax, no further decline in spending, no repeal of the beer tax, etc.) so how do we get the $$ to =?
hersfeld on July 22 at 2:38 p.m.
I am sick and tired of hearing how our government employees are “so underpaid” or paid at “poverty wages.” For a dose of cold reality go the State Department of Employment Security’s database for a report of exactly what the average wages are for our “underpaid” government employees. Link follows. http://www.workforceexplorer.com/admin/uploadedPublications/10470_OES_Databook_6-2010.pdf
For example, our “underpaid” elementary teachers on average make $56,457, a firefighter makes $63,742, a court clerk makes $39,799. These figures DO NOT include the gold plate medical, vacation, and generally guaranteed employment.
Give every government employee an across the board 10% paycut. It happens in the private sector so what makes the public sector immune.
mikeln on July 24 at 7:02 a.m.
It was not the government that took christ out of christmas, it was the marketing departments of big corporate that did that. Religion has no place in rational decision making, that is why we have separation of religion and government, to keep fables from becoming law.