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April 9, 2011 in City
‘All cuts’ budget moves to House floor despite protests
OLYMPIA – Some 7,000 protesters chanting, singing and marching through the Capitol to the strains of bagpipes were unable to convince the Legislature to veer from the path of an “all cuts” budget Friday.
A proposal to close most of the projected $5.1 billion gap in the state’s 2011-’13 operating budget with program cuts moved to the floor of the House of Representatives in the midafternoon while some demonstrators were still packing up from one of the biggest rallies at the Capitol in years.
That proposal comes from House Democrats, a group normally the most closely aligned with organized labor. House Republicans, who have an alternative budget with about $500 million more in cuts, did not try to swap their spending plan for the Democrats’ proposal when amendments were adopted.
The House can’t vote on the budget until today because of rules that require it to be available to the public – “lay on the bar” in legislative terms – for 24 hours.
But neither proposal has the thing protesters demanded during the rally and throughout the week: an end to some of the state’s many tax exemptions, or “loopholes,” for various businesses or industries.
The crowd, estimated by the Washington State Patrol at about 7,000, filled the steps of the Capitol, the Temple of Justice to the north, and the green spaces in between. They cheered as speakers invoked the memory of Martin Luther King Jr., who was killed when he went to Memphis, Tenn., to support a labor strike. They called for an end to national and state efforts to cut pay or benefits, and they applauded a special guest, one of 14 Wisconsin state senators who left that state to stall a bill to cut back on collective bargaining rights.
But mostly they shouted for the Legislature and Gov. Chris Gregoire to “put people first” and stop blaming workers for the deficit brought on by a recession.
“We did not lose $20 trillion. It was those geniuses on Wall Street,” Carol Dotlich, president of the Washington Federation of State Employees, told the crowd. “Make Wall Street and the robber barons pay their fair share.”
When the rally ended, several hundred went inside the Capitol and followed the Pierce County Fire Fighters Pipes and Drums as they marched around the hallways as the House was getting ready to introduce the budget legislation.
But even legislators who support the unions’ call for fewer cuts and an end to some tax exemptions say it almost certainly can’t happen this year. Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, said a two-thirds majority, which voters reimposed last November as a requirement for any tax increase, “would be difficult to obtain.”
The Senate will announce its own budget on Tuesday evening, after the House has finished debating and voting on its spending plan. It, too, will be without a tax increase, Brown said at an afternoon press conference.
Brown talked with protesters before her press conference, and was almost in the Capitol when she stopped to talk to Debbie Sills, a social worker from Yakima, about tax exemptions and budget cuts.
Sills said later she was skeptical: “She claims she’s going to support us, but until something changes, I don’t believe it.”
Gary Swartz, a union machinist who lives in Spokane County near the Idaho border, said he expected to be told something similar when he met with other local lawmakers after the rally. But he and other Spokane-area machinists from the Triumph factory who came to the rally said it was still worth the trip over and a day’s pay lost. “We’ve got to keep the pressure on,” Swartz said.
Supermajority for taxes unconstitutional, judge rules 
berrybestfarm on April 09 at 8:05 a.m.
Does anyone have a link that gives a legal definition of what constitutes a tax increase in Washington State? For example, is stopping a “loophole”/special tax priviledge not enjoyed by all legally an increase?
Dennis Patterson—Deer Park
polistra on April 09 at 8:49 a.m.
“We did not lose $20 trillion. It was those geniuses on Wall Street,” Carol Dotlich, president of the Washington Federation of State Employees, told the crowd. “Make Wall Street and the robber barons pay their fair share.”
Hey Carol! Don’t shout at Gregoire. She can’t do anything about it.
Shout at your goldenboy Obama, who belongs to Wall Street just like your boogeyman Bush belongs to Wall Street. Obama could have done something about Wall Street in 2009, but chose to continue bailing his masters instead of jailing them as they deserved.
DickAdams on April 09 at 11:09 a.m.
Their are far too many political illiterates and that`s part of the problem. But on the other side of the coin, the shenanigans by both parties, more especially the career legislators, is appalling. The taxpayers are fed up with the continued waste in governments,from local, to county and to the federal, the reckless spending habits continue. Even the political illiterates know this. I think the only choice the elected officials have is to provide basic services. And one caveat, we as a society must provide care for the handicapped and the truly needy.
wabusinesswire on April 09 at 4:19 p.m.
The cuts our Legislature is talking about are as rediculous as they are unnecessary.
Besides the tax loopholes, Legislators over the years have given away billions in tax exemptions for profit-making organizations. These exemptions now total more than state revenue.
Take a look at our recent editorial on the subject:
http://washingtonstatebusinesswire.com/?p=1285
William W. Larson, Publisher
Washington State Business Wire
DickAdams on April 09 at 7:36 p.m.
The corporate welfare handed out is obscene. Look at the city of Spokane and see the number of wealthy Spokanites with real estate tax exemptions. You know, like million dollar condo`s that Verner was a party too and voted to give our money away and in the process charge the real estate tax payers extra to pay for the free services the fat cats receive. Fire, police, school, streets, to mention a few. Verner needs to be ousted and pronto.
Patanjali on April 09 at 8:35 p.m.
Stopping a tax loophole is considered a tax increase and requires a 2/3rd vote to approve it. The 2/3rd vote required for a tax increase is a bad law and will hopefully be overturned in two years when the legislative can do so.
Dazzeetrader11 on April 09 at 9:12 p.m.
When you’re $5 billion in debt, you ‘d think the unions would be glad to have a haircut just to keep their jobs. How stupid to ask for more or even hold even when the unions have been abusing the sytem for decades. Part is over kids.
Don’t blame anyone but the unions and politicians who let the unions into our pockets. Wa St cannot continue like this any more than the US can.
Obam’s the worst at this claiming he’s fixing things while he’s draggin the country into the darkest of holes.