Senate Democrats respond to governor’s budget

OLYMPIA – Senate Democrats today applauded Gov. Chris Gregoire’s proposed 2007–09 two-year budget, saying she shares many of their objectives for the upcoming session.

“As far as education is concerned, the governor gets it. She shares our commitments,” said Sen. Margarita Prentice, D-Renton, who chairs the budget-writing Ways & Means Committee. Prentice noted that more than 60 percent of the governor’s budget is dedicated to investments in education. “Education is one of the Senate Democrats’ highest priorities,” she said. Prentice also indicated the Senate will likely approach the issue in its own manner.

Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver, vice-chair of the Ways & Means Committee, agreed with the governor’s priorities, but also stressed the need for prudence. “The governor is definitely reflecting our Democratic Party values in her priorities,” Pridemore said, “but her budget is likely on the upper end of what the state can afford to spend in the next few years. There will need to be some difficult discussions in the next few months as we work systematically through the issues.”

Sen. Karen Fraser, D-Thurston County, also vice-chair of the Ways & Means Committee said she sees considerable common ground in the governor’s proposed budget. “The public should be pleased that she is proposing spending significantly below the projected spending limit and putting hundreds of millions in reserve for future biennia. Overall, I think the figures and the concepts that the governor proposes in this budget represent a solid starting point for negotiations.”

Prentice, Pridemore and Fraser lauded a number of proposals in the governor’s budget, including the following:

• Expanding pre-kindergarten programs
• Increasing rates for state-subsidized child-care providers
• Helping struggling students
• Investments in special education
• Creating a new transportation funding formula
• Assisting with math and science instruction
• Reducing class sizes
• Raising teacher salaries
• Adding higher education enrollments
• Expanding financial aid
• Freezing tuition at two-year colleges
• Increasing research capacity in higher education
• Boosting pay for college faculty
• Improving facilities at colleges and universities
• Giving health coverage to an additional 32,000 low-income children
• Boosting childhood immunization rates
• Expanding high-speed Internet service to rural areas
• Promoting tourism
• Expanding the offender re-entry program to reduce the number of repeat offenders
• Setting up monthly caseworker visits for foster children
• Investing in community placement for people with developmental disabilities
• Supporting community-based mental health and chemical dependency services
• Increases rates for boarding homes and adult family homes
• Raising wages for home-care workers
• Cleaning up toxic sites around the Puget Sound
• Helping local governments improve their septic system programs
• Investing in state parks

“Today marks the very beginning of the budget process,” Prentice said. “Keep that in mind. We still have the session before us to hammer out all the details, and I know that Senate Democrats are eager to begin doing that with each other, with the House Democrats, with the Republicans in both chambers, and with the governor.”

“I expect our approach will continue to be collaborative, resulting in a budget that is good for the entire state,” Fraser said.

Pridemore agreed.

“The Governor has staked out a very solid position for purposes of negotiation,” Pridemore agreed. “For our part, we will be working across the aisle and across the rotunda to draft a Senate budget that the entire state can support.”

The 2007 legislative session is scheduled to begin on Monday, Jan. 8 for what is expected to be a 105-day session.

Senate Democrats will release their proposed 2007–09 biennial budget after the session convenes.

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