Vote And Go Home

Washington voters handed their representatives in state and local government a tough assignment last fall when they repealed the motor vehicle excise tax, a major funding source for highways, public transit, law enforcement and public health. It is no wonder that legislators have taken months to rebuild the budget.

But it is time to make decisions and move on. Gov. Gary Locke has ordered legislators into session Monday, to consider a compromise budget that he drafted, building on their best efforts to date. If legislators come up with an even better deal, fine.

Further paralysis, however, would discredit the legislative process and fuel the activists who remain inclined to mess with the state budget by initiative. That is a terrible approach because the state budget funds many essential services, from mental health care to game wardens, and precious few of these needs are popular enough to win an initiative of their own.

Locke’s budget benefits from a strong economy. It trims bureaucracy, offers major enhancements to education and restores some of the cuts the voters’ decision made necessary in transportation and local government. It is a compromise, so it will not satisfy everyone. Still, it offers legislators of all stripes ample progress so they can face the fall elections with pride in their work, and enough unfinished business to occupy them again next year.