Budget & Policy Center Director Named to Governor's Panel

Update:

Here's more information about the upcoming public hearings:

Monday, July 19, 2010
7:00 – 9:00 pm
University of Washington-Tacoma
William W. Phillip Hall
1900 Commerce Street
Tacoma, Washington
 
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
7:00 – 9:00 pm
Everett Community College
Parks Building, Multi Purpose Room
2000 Tower Street
Everett, Washington

Tuesday, July 27, 2010
7:00 – 9:00 pm
Administration Building Room 110
Washington State University- Vancouver Campus
14204 NE Salmon Creek Avenue
Vancouver, Washington 

Thursday, July 29, 2010
Time TBA (evening)
Spokane City Hall  City Council Chambers
808 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard
Spokane, Washington

We will follow the same format for all of the two-hour hearings.  It is as follows:

• Convene/welcome

• Presentation on 2011-13 budget by senior OFM budget staff (45 minutes)

• Public comment

(Original Post)

I’m pleased to have been asked by the Governor to help deal with the mammoth problems we face in maintaining public structures from education to health care. I’ll be on a diverse panel of leaders who will be advising the governor in preparation for the creation of next year’s budget proposal. The group will hold four public meetings, beginning July 19th in Tacoma.

It’s a good time to try new approaches, when we’re in the midst of a continuing recession expected to lead to a $3.5 billion shortfall next biennium (that is, if the problem is not made even worse by the passage of I-1107).

But the broad group of folks appointed by the Governor should not focus solely on shrinking our public structures. Not when more people are in need. And not when areas like education will have a bearing on our recovery.

We’ll need a more reasoned approach than just slashing:

• We should use this as an opportunity to think about the long-term structural challenge exacerbated by the recession -- our revenue structure doesn’t support the things people care about in our state budget.

• That means by all means, we should find smarter ways of delivering services, like assessing how the criminal justice drives expenditures. But  I have a deep skepticism about the idea of “zero-based budgeting,” in which all expenditures must be “requalified”  every two years. Many programs  like early learning , require time to show results. Others -- such as the Disability Lifeline for unemployed adults who have a disability that makes it impossible for them to work – are necessary . But they don’t have measurements that lend themselves to a zero-based process. A better approach is something we at the Budget & Policy Center have developed a tool to assess our state’s progress in key areas over time.

• One fundamental reform that should be considered is justifying millions of dollars in tax breaks. These exemptions and preferences now do not receive the same scrutiny in the budget process as other expenditures and are often allowed to stay on the books ad-infinitim.

• In looking for savings, we should not abandon our values nor forget about our long-term well-being. We must also ask hard questions about cuts that may save in the short-term but bring in long-term problems. Cutting back on health care, for instance, would only bring people to emergency rooms with more costly problems. Assessing the performance of programs is key, but they shouldn’t be held to arbitrary measures.

• We need to continue pursuing a balanced approach. The effects of the recession cannot be solely managed through cuts – it requires a balanced approach that includes revenue. Thus far, we’ve relied more heavily on cuts than on increasing revenue, which has made up only 8 percent of the steps we’ve taken this biennium. Many of the increases are temporary.

• We should keep in mind the effects of cuts that have already happened: $3.5 billion in 2009’s nearly all-cuts budget, then another $755 million this year. Major cuts have occurred and they will have a lasting impact (for example, huge increases in college tuition).

Join us for four public meetings  in the coming weeks:

• July 19 – Tacoma, 7-9 PM (UWT-William W. Phillip Hall, Milgard Assembly Room, 1900 Commerce Street)
• July 21 – Everett, 7-9 PM (Everett Community College, Parks Building, Multi Purpose Room
• Spokane (TBA, but likely the week of July 26th)
• Vancouver (TBA, but likely the week of July 26th)