Gov. Chris Gregoire spent a few minutes fielding questions on an array of subjects this morning from press corps reporters and, not having done so for some time, there predictably were more questions than she had time for.
Such pent up demand almost always occurs when the governor doesnt meet with the press regularly. Pearse Edwards, Gregoires Communications Director, said this years legislative and then campaign schedule has prevented her from staging regular media availabilities this year. But he said the office is planning to get back to doing them.
Gregoire was asked most about the states budget outlook and the recent Senate Ways and Means Committee staff analysis indicating the deficit awaiting the Legislature now stands at about $2.7 billion.
She said her own budget office, the Office of Financial Management, hasnt done its own analysis and that shell wait for the one it'll produce later this year (after the election) that shell write her budget proposal off of.
Thats the one that really counts, Gregoire said.
She generally dismissed such talk of budget deficits, repeated what shes said before about deficit projections being merely projections and about the national economy dragging down Washington while expressing confidence in the states economy.
Now is not the time to panic, Gregoire said.
She called the prospect of raising taxes to help cover the gap a moot issue because she doesnt believe the needed two-thirds majority of the House and Senate could be mustered.
When asked about any blame directed her way over the loss of the Seattle SuperSonics, Gregoire called any such talk laughable and that its being exploited for election-year politicking.
Asked about negative campaigning, Gregoire said I am chagrined at how ugly it has started, referring to her race against Republican challenger Dino Rossi. She said she was offended by the Democratic Partys anti-Rossi YouTube ad that played theme music from The Sopranos that was pulled after the Italian Club of Seattle objected to.
When asked about negative ads her campaign or interest groups supporting her campaign have run, Gregoire had this to say: I will support any ad that is truth, that is fact based.
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To fill a $2 billion budget shortfall, Gov. Chris Gregoire is proposing eliminating the state’s health care program for the poor, trimming another 15 percent from higher education and reducing levy equalization for poor school districts by 50 percent.
“This is very personal. We’re talking about real Washingtonians,” Gregoire said at a news conference Thursday in Olympia. “They have needs we will no longer be able to meet.”
The governor struck a populist stance in laying out her proposed budget, largely blaming the reductions on Wall Street.
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Talking about a $2 billion deficit in Washington can seem unreal -- it's a number almost too big for the average person to imagine, but one that might have very real consequences for thousands of Tri-Citians.
And it's the number that will be the focus of lawmakers' discussion and debate as the Legislature convenes in a 30-day special session Monday to tackle that deficit before it ordinarily would meet to write a supplemental budget starting in January.
The actual shortfall between projected revenue and the biennial budget as written is about $1.4 billion, but Gov. Chris Gregoire is asking lawmakers to cut enough to leave $600 million in reserves.
Washington state budget debate to begin
Washington state budget debate to begin
Talking about a $2 billion deficit in Washington can seem unreal -- it's a number almost too big for the average person to imagine, but one that might have very real consequences for thousands of Tri-Citians.
And it's the number that will be the focus of lawmakers' discussion and debate as the Legislature convenes in a 30-day special session Monday to tackle that deficit before it ordinarily would meet to write a supplemental budget starting in January.
The actual shortfall between projected revenue and the biennial budget as written is about $1.4 billion, but Gov. Chris Gregoire is asking lawmakers to cut enough to leave $600 million in reserves.
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Lawmakers return to Olympia this week for a 60-day session in which they will face at least $1 billion budget deficit just a few weeks after adjourning from a special session in which they made almost $500 million in cuts, transfers and policy changes.
Gregoire gives budget message in Tri-Cities
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RICHLAND -- Gov. Chris Gregoire told students and staff members at Columbia Basin College's Health Science Center in Richland on Friday that she didn't want to propose deep cuts to higher education, but is left with little choice.
In a list of possible budget cuts unveiled Thursday, Gregoire said she is likely to propose cutting 15 percent of the state's financial support for public colleges and universities.
But she said she believes doing that will be harmful to the state in the long term.
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