WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Compromise budget plan defends safety net, advances education

“If politics is the art of compromise, then our budget-proposal is a fine art. It’s a fair, commonsense connection of diverse perspectives we need to send legislators home before the midnight Tuesday, June 11, special-session deadline.

“Our House budget, for example, covers health care for an additional 280,000 Washington men and women. We guarantee a safety net for thousands of children, senior citizens, and disabled people who are in great need. More than $700 million in new money is dedicated for K-12 schools, which is giant headway toward meeting terms of the Supreme Court’s McCleary decision. Importantly, this compromise sends an extra $90 million to colleges and universities, and retains a sturdy share of our foundation in child care for hard-working families.

“Even as this House budget maintains a responsible ending-fund balance, it also stands up for fairness in the tax code by closing a good many of our state’s most-notorious, egregious loopholes — such as Oregonians not paying our sales tax when they shop in Vancouver.

“I’m not naïve, but I do want to be more than a little optimistic. I do hope that in the next couple of days, we can move this budget out of the House, convince our Senate-Republican colleagues to see the light — convince them to see the rightness of this compromise budget, and then send it on to the governor.”