Fixing the Mess We’re In
“The test of a great people is if they can
renew themselves in the face of adversity.”
The Great Recession has affected everybody. All of us have been watching with growing concern about where our nation and state are going. The problems seem to be getting progressively bigger and far more ugly. The common sense needed to address them appears to have fallen by the wayside.
All around our district, families and employers are all saying the same thing: they are struggling to make ends meet.
Our state is rapidly moving toward bankruptcy in a way dangerously similar to California. Over the last six years, state government spending has grown to double that of state tax revenue growth. For the last three years, our state has run multi-billion dollar budget deficits. Next year the forecast state budget deficit is $3-5 billion. And, deficits are expected to grow to $20 billion by the end of the decade. State bankruptcy and the associated harsh consequences within the next decade is the primary issue facing our state.
In the last legislative session, I voted against repeal of the Taxpayer Protection Act and the continuing budget deficits because they are wildly out of touch with economic realities. We need more tough-minded common sense in Olympia – not more special-interest influence. [2010 End of Session District Newsletter]
So what do we do?
The "Solution" Plan
The solution to preventing state bankruptcy and working together to build a secure prosperous future is to be very aggressive about creating globally competitive, family-wage, private-sector jobs. Jobs pay the bills for our families and the public services that add to our quality of life.
My focus is on the following proven approaches to job retention and creation:
 Budget control: We are going to have to “bite the bullet” and reduce state spending – and not increase taxes – until our state is financially solvent. We must prioritize demands within existing state revenues while not adding the additional burden of new taxes on families and employers. There are hundreds of state programs that will need to be restructured, reformed, deferred or outright eliminated.
 Ports: We need to merge the Ports of Tacoma, Seattle and Everett, cut the duplicate overhead and achieve a unified Port of Puget Sound. We can then hustle up global deals that create jobs here. Making Washington a leader in international trade in the global economy creates thousands of high wages construction and service based jobs as well.
 University research and development:
Our entire university system and community college system must work together to discover new technologies and processes that create new business opportunities and create jobs. New technologies create new companies that create new jobs.
 Advanced manufacturing: We need a regulatory climate that encourages advanced manufacturing companies to locate here, which creates jobs. That means reforming state regulations that are conflicting, burdensome and counter-productive. We need a regulatory environment that encourages businesses to locate here and grow, not look for somewhere else.
These BIG economic drivers will provide the much-needed economic energy to reinvigorate the opportunities for small and mid-sized businesses, allowing them to prosper and grow. We can’t forget that small business employers account for 80% of the jobs in our state economy.
As a global center and leader of trade and innovation that invents, manufactures, assembles, warehouses and distributes high value goods we must energize our state’s economic job creation machine and get it moving again. As we increase job growth, family paychecks and financial security will undoubtedly improve. As the state again lives within its means, we can invest in public services to support our quality of life.
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