There has been a lot of talk about legislators taking “per diem.” When the House of Representatives releases its report on per diem, you will see my name there.
I’m not going to apologize for taking $90/day to help maintain an apartment in Olympia while I’ve been on unpaid leave from my employer since Thanksgiving — first for the special session in December while passing a $500 million budget-cut before the winter holidays and recently for 2012 regular legislative session.
Even in the best of times, it invariably takes the Legislature the entire allotted time to pass a budget. In fact, today, we are in the middle of the worst financial situation in more than 70 years. It isn’t just Washington that is experiencing trouble. The economic nightmare is all across the nation, and it’s all over the globe.
Yes, we could spend weeks pointing fingers of blame for the special sessions. Republicans want to blame Democrats for passing the marriage-equality measure. Democrats want to blame the Senate GOP for the latter’s procedural move — going to the “9th Order” — the last week of regular session in order to advance their Republican budget proposal from the Senate floor.
Enough! We clearly cannot pass a budget without cooperation. Legislative budget negotiators are meeting daily with the governor’s budget staff to work out a proposal that can get the needed 50 votes in the House, 25 votes in the Senate, and the governor’s signature.
Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, wants this to be done — yesterday! We all want to be home with our families and back to work. We’re down to philosophical differences now. Who pays? What are future budgets going to have for unfunded liability? Labor? Pensions? Education? Make no mistake: We will get there. And yes, this budget will have tremendous consequences, and everyone — legislators and citizens — must be paying attention. As they say, “The devil is in the details.”