Washington state governor calls for draconian cuts in new budget

Hannah Bell

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Wed Jan-19-11 06:47 PM
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Washington state governor calls for draconian cuts in new budget

In her State of the State address last week, Washington’s Democratic governor Christine Gregoire proposed budget cuts totaling $4.6 billion for 2011-2013, stating, “It’s not just about this crisis—it’s about setting our state on a trajectory that ensures a strong financial foundation for our kids and grandkids.”

Gregoire’s “trajectory” for the state’s younger generation, however, includes deep cuts in maternity services, early childhood education and children’s health care, not to mention severe cuts in all social services.

Coming on the heels of the previous budget’s $5.1 billion cut and a drastic $900 million cut just enacted by a special session of the Democratic-controlled legislature last December, the current proposed cuts extend the dismantling of social services for the poor and working class.

The budget would:

- eliminate basic health coverage (Apple Health) for 27,000 children

- eliminate coverage for 66,000 poor people with the removal of the Basic Health plan.

- cut a total of $1.4B from Health and Human Services,

- cut $2.2B from K-12

- cut $630.7 million from higher education

- increase tuition for state colleges by 9-11 percent,

- eliminates pre-schooling help to 1,324 children

- eliminate the Disability Lifeline Medical Plan affecting 21,000 low-income disabled adults

- eliminates the State Food Assistance Program for low-income legal immigrants

Many of these same programs came under attack in the previous 2009-2011 budget...

- state employees will pay more in pension contributions --up to 4.5% from 3.9% in 2009-2011

- State employees' portion of health care premiums will go from $86 to $147 in 2013 on average

State workers have seen no general wage increases since 2008, and unpaid temporary layoffs saw the average state employee lose $178 per month in 2010...The new budget seeks another 3 percent reduction in compensation.

As a Seattle Times article points out, more than $6.5 billion of tax revenue is lost each year due to tax subsidies for business. The legislature does not consider these items in its budget deliberations. A full 88 percent of these subsidies do not have sunset provisions, and thus do not require regular review as a matter of law. The state’s Joint Legislative Committee reviews these tax expenditures only once in 10 years. A 60 percent vote in the legislature in required to repeal any of these subsidies.

Between 1979 and 2003, the incomes of the wealthiest 1 percent of Washingtonians rose by 111 percent above inflation. Incomes for the entire top 20 percent rose by 49 percent over the same period, while incomes for the middle fifth inched up only 8.6 percent and the bottom 20 percent experienced no perceptible gain.

An effort to pass an income tax on the richest 10 percent of Washington residents failed last November. Initiative 1098 was stymied when the opposition, with a bankroll of $6.3 million, was joined by some of the world’s richest men.

Microsoft billionaires Steve Ballmer and Paul Allen, along with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, respectively listed at numbers 16, 17 and 18 on Forbes’ Richest People in America list, contributed heavily to defeat the initiative.

These three billionaires, all residents of Washington state, have a combined wealth of over $92 billion.

If one includes another Washington resident, Microsoft’s Bill Gates with a net worth estimated at $54 billion, this amount leaps to a staggering $146 billion.

In a move to shore up its profits, Microsoft is responding to the “Cadillac tax” on more generous health insurance plans by planning on employee contributions to its plan, which up to now has been covered by the corporation. (except for its many temp workers, of course, who don't get health insurance)

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/jan2011/wash-j19.shtml