(The Center Square) - Former Washington Governor Gary Locke had some harsh words for the Democrat-controlled state legislature Thursday during an economic conference that included business and policy leaders from across the state.
The Association of Washington Business Institute (AWB) and Washington Roundtable hosted the daylong Economic Future Solutions Summit event at the Hilton at SeaTac.
Following opening remarks, Locke, a Democrat, took the stage alongside former Office of Financial Management Director Marty Brown.
Locke, who was governor from 1997 to 2005, talked about creating Priorities of Government during his time in office to reign in budgets and not spend more than they were bringing in.
In 2002, Locke initiated the effort to rationalize Washington’s budget structure, requiring each agency to rank program activities in order of their importance to the public.
The goal was a zero-based budgeting approach, to achieve results at less cost, through creative budget solutions, and eliminate programs or consolidate similar activities in different agencies.
AWB President and CEO Kris Johnson asked Locke what his advice would be for current lawmakers and budget writers, who might consider embracing the POG approach.
“Quite frankly, I have great concerns about the budgeting process in Olympia right now…you cannot take one-time money and commit it to permanent programming,” said Locke, drawing applause from the crowd of attendees.
“When that one-time money goes away, how are you going to continue that program?," he continued. "And then you create all this dissatisfaction and disappointment among the interest groups. So, do you then raise revenues?”
Locke said voters are losing confidence with lawmakers as money is shifted around from one program to another.
“If you borrow money to pay for a program, where will you find the money to replenish or repay that fund? And then where are you going to find the money then to continue the program for which you borrowed that money? I think that the Legislature has passed all these revenue programs, and some of it, I support. But they still have a budget deficit,” said Locke.
“Pretty soon, people are going to say, 'Wait a second, I can't trust those folks.'”
Democrats have controlled both chambers of the Washington State Legislature since January 2018.
Following Locke’s appearance on stage, The Center Square caught up with him to ask about dramatic budget increases in recent years.
“There’s no budget discipline. They're taking one-time money and creating permanent programs without any thought as to how they are going to sustain that program when that one-time money goes away,” Locke said.
“I think spending is out of control in Olympia. They need much more discipline. They need to set priorities," he said. "And when they say that they're going to create a program and they ask the voters to approve of that particular program, they need to make sure that they don't take that money a few years later and spend it on something else because then the voters lose faith.”
Income tax thoughts
The Center Square also asked Locke on his thoughts on the state's recently passed "millionaire's tax."
“Well, already, they've committed that source of money to various programs, but they’re facing a budget deficit two years from now. So, what's going on?", he said.
"They say that this was necessary to balance the budget, but even with that money, they're facing a deficit. And will they even be able to use that money for the programs that they promised the voters?” Locke asked.
Locke is the second former Democratic Washington governor to recently criticize out of control spending in Olympia.
“I left office with a budget of $33 billion," said former governor Christine Gregoire, who served as Washington's governor from 2005-2013, at the AWB Spring Summit in early May.
"And the budget today is $80 billion. I think that's a little bit too much of a growth,” she said.
“I would suggest to you; we don't really have an income problem. We have a spending problem."
