Republican promises to negotiate budget deals in public, with Democratic input, were broken this week, some lawmakers say.

Republicans promised an inclusive negotiating process when they took control of the House in 1995. Before then, sessions to negotiate differences between the House and Senate budgets, called conference committees, were held in secret.

“No longer will we allow last-minute legislation to be jammed through the process with little or no public scrutiny,” House Speaker Clyde Ballard said on the first day of the 1995 legislative session. “And we insist that all conference committees be open to the public and the media.”

This year, the committee hearing was public, but Republican budget writers had already drafted a final proposal behind closed doors.

“That wasn’t a conference committee, even though they went through the charade,” said House Minority Leader Marlin Appelwick, D-Seattle. “It was show-and-tell time.”

Criticism wasn’t limited to Democrats. Sen. Eugene Prince, R-Thornton, said Republican leaders weren’t negotiating in good faith.

“They’re like little emperors here,” said Prince, who blames the demise of his gas tax proposal on his party’s leadership.

“It just seems like two to four people are doing everything.”

Senate budget Chairman Jim West, R-Spokane, and House appropriations Chairman Tom Huff, R-Gig Harbor, have been meeting all session to produce a budget both houses could agree to. The final proposal took them five or six days to negotiate alone. West said he took suggestions from members of both parties into consideration.

“They had input,” West said of Democrats. “There are things people would do differently if they were in charge but it’s not a bad budget.”

Ballard said Wednesday that compromising on the budget in private helped to speed up the process.

West said Republicans made similar complaints in 1993 when Democrats controlled the Legislature and that their party has been more inclusive. Others predict Republicans will make those complaints again.

“It’s true that what goes around comes around,” said Sen. Lisa Brown, D-Spokane. “In two years Republicans are going to be screaming bloody murder about being shut out.”

, DataTimes