Now Republican Leaders Are The Ones Requesting Gov. Locke To Negotiate

First, it was Gov. Gary Locke complaining that lawmakers were running over him, sending him legislation he didn’t like without so much as a sit-down to talk it over.

Now, Republican legislative leaders are saying the same thing about the Democratic governor following his threat to kill a bunch of bills if they reach his desk.

“It is time for the governor to join with us in enacting meaningful reform, rather than sit on the sidelines and look for ways to stop the progress,” House Speaker Clyde Ballard, R-East Wenatchee, said Thursday. “It’s up to the governor to prove that he really wants to be part of the solutions rather than the cause of the problems.”

Ballard and Senate Majority Leader Dan McDonald, R-Bellevue, were reacting to statements Locke made Wednesday. Locke told reporters he was prepared to veto a slew of measures, including proposals to ease environmental regulations, greatly revise land-use planning law, and send hundreds of young lawbreakers into adult courts and prisons.

The arguments are familiar. Locke used the same unhappy words and calls for cooperation earlier this session when he vainly sought to dissuade lawmakers from sending to voters $220 million in property tax cuts before the sides had begun to negotiate a new budget.

Asked why Locke should cooperate when legislative leaders did not, Ballard said there was a big difference between the two situations.

“It was well-known before the legislative session even started that we would make tax cuts our first order of business,” Ballard said.

Besides, added McDonald, that’s all in the past, and it is time to look to the future if lawmakers are to resolve tough issues by the April 27 deadline to adjourn.

“We did what we did on the taxes and it is time to look ahead,” McDonald said.

Ballard said Locke should cool his talk of vetoes.

“The word veto just kind of stops the conversation,” he said.

For his part, Locke indicated he was ready to negotiate with lawmakers in coming weeks.

“We have every intention of working with the Legislature to take care of the public’s business,” Locke’s press secretary, Mary Lou Flynn, said Thursday.

But Locke said Wednesday that a take-it-or-leave-it approach to governing has its place, too.

“If they don’t like what I do, they can override my vetoes” with a two-thirds vote of both houses, he said. “I respect their right to pass legislation that may not meet with my approval, and I would hope they would respect my right to veto the legislation.”