Senators Ed Murray and Derek Kilmer call for a plan to make a plan

Not so fast: Solving state's budget deficit will take careful deliberation (Op-Ed, Seattle Times, October 16, 2011)

The state's $1.4 billion budget shortfall requires action, but two Democratic state Senate leaders say a hastily called special session is not the answer. Sens. Ed Murray and Derek Kilmer say the deficit's magnitude requires a special session but only after thoughtful early work toward solutions.

By Ed Murray and Derek Kilmer

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WHEN the Legislature met for a one-day special session last December, we needed to get a start on closing a growing budget shortfall. It was the first post-election session in state history, and we acted decisively — on three bills.

Now, as we again face a budget shortfall, this Opinion page calls on us to spring into action once more ["Begin work on state's growing budget hole," editorial, Sept. 20]. But, to be blunt, the budget isn't a three-bill problem anymore.

For three years, we have grappled with the Great Recession as it has taken a toll on Washington families, and in so doing, eroded the state's revenue. We have not just cut spending. We've reduced services to the public to a degree that required changing the law.

In balancing the budget this spring, we worked on a bipartisan basis to make difficult decisions. We made substantive reforms to state government. We also, on a bipartisan basis, made very difficult cuts — to increase school class sizes, cut teacher pay, increase college tuition and end general-fund support for our state parks. Every area of service was affected.

The problem before us today is a $1.4 billion drop in expected revenue. At this point, that poses more than an accounting challenge. It asks us to reconsider what we can do for the public.

We never stopped tracking the issue. Before the most recent forecast, we asked our Republican counterpart on the budget-writing Senate Ways and Means Committee to join us in finding new ways to address the budget. Since then, we have asked our Democratic colleagues to join with their fellow senators from the other party in serious discussions on solutions to our shortfall.

But the options have shrunk along with our services.

Today, K-12 spending is the largest single piece of our state budget and 93 percent of it is constitutionally protected against cuts. What is left in that remainder of supposedly discretionary, "nonbasic" education? Mostly levy equalization, a program that helps school districts with lower property values offer the same level of education as higher-value districts.

If we don't want to set back schools based on their real-estate values, then what can we cut? The largest single discretionary piece of the state budget is higher education. And, by coincidence, the entire annual budget of our colleges and universities is about the same size of our shortfall — $1.4 billion.

We're not going to eliminate higher education. But these examples illustrate the size of the challenge we face in tackling another shortfall.

The Times editorial board declared that "Doing nothing while waiting for the next revenue forecast is ... an admission of defeat without addressing the problem."

But we would caution that calling a meeting is not the same thing as giving a serious problem the consideration it deserves. And the truth is, calling for action without having a plan isn't victory.

We are making the most of the weeks before the Nov. 28 special session to find new ideas and identify new solutions. We will continue to work — with one another, our fellow legislators in the House, the governor and the public — to forge a responsible path forward for our state.
Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, left, and Sen. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, are the chair and vice chair, respectively, of the state Senate Ways & Means Committee.