Bellevue Chamber CEO reacts to Governor Ferguson press conference

You should watch Governor Ferguson’s press conference. There isn’t a single person in the state of Washington who should disagree with his position. Whether you want massive tax increases or massive tax relief, everyone should agree that budgets need to be sustainable and bankable.

The wealth tax is a legal, practical, and forecasting land mine. He said he wouldn’t sign a budget that depends on it because it’s too unstable. I think a wealth tax is a bad idea, some people think it’s genius. No matter your position, Ferguson’s position is merely a statement of fact. You can’t hang essential government services on a revenue stream that is legally dubious and completely untested in our country.

The Governor also said he won’t sign a budget that books revenues in excess of forecasts. The state has done that time and time again. Dialing assumptions in the back of the budget like pension fund growth rates, revenue projections, and caseloads in such a way that defy all expert predictions in order artificially increase state spending. Every time this has been done the legislature walks into session with a big deficit on paper. That is exactly what happened this year.

Revenue is up over 6%. That’s billions of dollars more than the state had last biennium. The funny budgeting gimmicks come back to bite Washington citizens every single time they are tried. These gimmicks have been used with abandon over the last two decade, save a few years when Senators Hill, Braun or Rolfes were writing the budget. The Governor is saying enough is enough.

For upset progressives, he isn’t saying no to taxes, he is saying do the math. For elated conservatives, he isn’t saying all cuts, he is saying let’s be smart and sustainable. I’ve had to do the job of balancing Washington State's budget several times before. Writing a budget that really balances is a hard enough task. Doing it after a decade of gimmicks, erroneous assumptions, and federal uncertainty is another level all together. Having this pragmatic philosophy in the Governor’s mansion will serve our state, its most vulnerable, and our economic engine well.