Jay Inslee signed a supplemental budget yesterday that balanced over the next four years – as required by law – when the legislature sent it to him. Unfortunately, now that Inslee is in fundraising mode for his -re-election campaign, he decided to also veto several provisions in the budget that now places the state budget more than $200 million in the red.
Inslee downplayed the unbalanced budget by claiming he is more concerned about the “expected cost of meeting a Supreme Court ruling ordering the state to fix the way it pays for education rather than balancing the supplemental budget over four years.”
He said, “If you’re worried about that issue, these are just sort of specks of sand on a huge beach.”
Ridiculous analogy aside, it’s noteworthy that our green governor believes abiding by state law to produce a budget that balances over four years is like a mere “speck of sand.”
As GOP Senate Majority Leader Mark Schoesler pointed out in a recent press release, Inslee’s action is a clear signal of his intent to push for new taxes in the near future. Schoesler:
“The governor’s vetoes were a surprise because he was well aware of the bipartisan spending adjustments approved by the Legislature – changes that until today had kept this new supplemental budget in line with our state’s unique 4-year balanced-budget law. He had plenty of opportunity to make his concerns known and should have before the Legislature adjourned almost three weeks ago.
“Governor Inslee has been pushing for tax increases since he took office. This veto of around 200 million dollars in savings is another example of how he’s trying to set the stage for new and higher taxes. It’s also more proof that he can’t be trusted with a veto pen.”
It’s just more proof that Inslee does not know how to govern. And, considering how he appears to feel about the concept of a balanced budget, Inslee certainly should not be the leader of Washington State.
