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[align=center]-Just received this via email-
Addressing Gregoire's $2.7 Billion Deficit, Part I][/align]
[align=center]Rossi Proposes Constitutional Amendment to Reinstate Spending Limits[/align]
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Redmond, WA – According to the non-partisan Senate Ways and Means Committee staff, our state is facing a projected $2.7 billion deficit in the next biennium. Since Christine Gregoire took office, state spending has increased by 33 percent. During this time, the spending growth rate has been two and a half times greater than the revenue growth rate.
The first step in addressing the deficit is to rein in out-of-control spending. As governor, Dino Rossi will propose a Constitutional Amendment to reinstate spending limits for the General Fund and Near General Fund. In 1993 voters approved I-601 that placed annual spending limits on state general fund expenditures tied to inflation and state population growth. Unfortunately I-601 has been circumvented by the legislature and little is left of its original taxpayer protections.
"The first thing everyone needs to understand about the deficit is that we have a spending problem, not a revenue problem. No one should feel guilty that they are not sending enough money to Olympia – the problem is that Governor Gregoire and the legislators have spent it at an unsustainable rate," said Dino Rossi. "In order to stop the bleeding and get our state on a fiscally sustainable path, we must bring our spending back in line with recurring revenue growth. The people have shown support for spending limits and a Constitutional Amendment would keep out-of-control government spending in check. The fact is, if I-601 were still in place our state would not be facing a multi-billion dollar budget deficit."
Facts on state spending under Governor Gregoire:
· Overspending is the cause of the deficit. In January, the state projected revenue of $31.984 billion for the current biennium (reduced to $29.402 billion in June 2008 forecast). However, Governor Gregoire and the legislator added new policy expenditures that brought spending to a total of $32.753 billion. Had they exercised some fiscal restraint with the current budget and brought spending in line with revenue, we wouldn't be facing such a large deficit.
· Revenue will continue to increase in the next biennium. Despite a slowing economy, state revenue is still expected to increase by 8 percent in the next biennium. That means that the state will have more money to spend next year, but we have outspent it by $2.7 billion dollars.
· Had spending limits been kept in place, our state would not be facing a future deficit. The chart below shows how spending has far outpaced growth in population and inflation.
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Source: LEAP; Economic Revenue Forecast Council Report]
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In 2003, Dino Rossi as chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee worked with Democratic Governor Gary Locke, with bipartisan support in the legislature, to write a fiscally responsible budget that balanced the largest dollar deficit in state history without raising taxes while still protecting the most vulnerable. This was done by going through the budget line-by-line, making thousands of decisions. This is the same approach Dino Rossi will take as governor to help solve Gregoire's $2.7 billion deficit.
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