PORT ANGELES — As the state budgets await Gov. Bob Ferguson’s approval, the three 24th Legislative District legislators discussed their approach to balancing budgets that had billions in predicted shortfall.
The state runs on three budgets: operating, transportation and capital.
The proposed operating budget for the next biennium totals $77.8 billion, relying both on cuts and revenue increases to meet the predicted $16 billion shortfall.
Although legislators initially sought to balance the shortfall through use of the state’s rainy-day fund, Sen. Mike Chapman, D-Port Angeles, said they nixed that plan after advocacy from State Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti.
Avoiding use of the rainy-day fund can help the state maintain its strong credit rating, ultimately saving taxpayer money.
The $15.6 billion transportation budget, which was facing a $1 billion shortfall over the next two years, also includes spending cuts and revenue increases.
First-term Rep. Adam Bernbaum, D-Port Angeles, who serves as vice chair for the House Transportation Committee, said his focus was balancing the budget while “protecting the programs that matter most to people across the state.”
At first, the House approached the transportation budget by assuming zero revenue increases and looking at what cuts would ensue.
The answer, Bernbaum said, was abandoning most of the projects under contract, jeopardizing millions of dollars in federal funding, abandoning highway maintenance preservation obligations and more.
The committee then went back and made tough decisions for what would and would not be included, he said.
“People across the state saw projects getting pushed out,” Bernbaum said.
In addition to cuts, the proposed budget saw new motor vehicle taxes, tire taxes and an additional six-cent gas tax, among others.
Chapman, who serves on the Senate Transportation Committee, was one of the cosponsors of the gas tax hike.
There are two reasons he supported the bill, he said. One, the bill was co-sponsored by Sen. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, and Curtis King, R-Yakima. Seeing these two parties work together on a bipartisan tax package made Chapman want to “lend my name to the effort,” he said.
Second, Chapman said the state constitution mandates gas tax dollars are invested in the transportation sector rather than other uses. That can be especially important for rural areas, which rely on the connecting infrastructure.
“It’s a real challenge for us to fund the road projects we need without a dedicated revenue source that is robust,” said Rep. Steve Tharinger, D-Port Townsend, noting that gas tax revenues are dropping due to an increase in hybrid and electric vehicles.
The Legislature did look for alternative ways to raise transportation revenue, such as a road usage charge. However, that proposal saw what Bernbaum called “historical pushback,” with more people signing up against that bill than any other bill in the history of the state.
Taxpayers, especially in rural areas, also have less control over a road usage charge because it is easier to control how much gas you’re using than it is to control how far you must drive, Tharinger said.
Although Bernbaum said the proposed transportation budget raised more revenue than he would have liked, it avoided some of the most painful cuts.
“The old saying is that, when everybody leaves the room unhappy, you know you’ve got a compromise,” Bernbaum said.
The capital budget also faced struggles. This year, Tharinger, who serves as the chair of the House Capital Budget Committee, said he focused on protecting programs that aid early learning and youth.
That led to capital appropriations that include $2.05 million for the Port Angeles YMCA Early Learning facility, $773,000 for the Shore Aquatic Center childcare expansion project and $436,000 to build the Joe Rantz house, designed to provide shelter for homeless youth.
The capital budget, which oversees construction projects, will total $7.5 billion if Ferguson signs it into law.
In addition to the state-level budget challenges, Tharinger said the process was made even more difficult by the uncertainty in Washington, D.C. One of the biggest concerns the state is looking at is the potential impacts of Medicaid cuts, which would create a budget hole that Bernbaum said the state wouldn’t likely be able to fill.
The impacts of other actions taken by the federal administration are still being discovered, Tharinger said.
“We don’t know what those impacts are,” he added. “Hopefully, as voices are raised on the impact of what is going on, we can find a balance to address those needs.”
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Reporter Emma Maple can be reached by email at emma.maple@peninsuladailynews.com.
