February 2, 2012
Statement from House Ways and Means committee Chair Ross Hunter regarding the House Republicans’ education budget proposal:
“This is a perfect illustration of why we can’t write a state budget this way.
What we know from this document is that it cuts less from the K-12 budget than Governor Gregoire’s proposal did. But that’s about all we know.
What is required to make this work? We don’t know. How will pension bills still in the pipeline affect this? We don’t know. Where does the money come from? We don’t know.
Education is indeed our paramount duty. But it is not the only constitutional or statutory responsibility we have. Are all those still being met? We don’t know.
Funding education is the top priority for me – in fact, I have spent the last six years developing Washington’s new education funding model as a substantive alternative to their procedural proposal. The McCleary decision validates this approach and I intend to meet our constitutional requirements for education funding within the context of a complete budget.”