Budget Signing

April 1, 2008

*As Written*

Thank you all for coming.

This week marks the end of action on the legislative session, as well as the opening of the Mariners� season. I always have high hopes for both seasons. Congrats to the Mariners on their great start yesterday!

Today I am signing a budget that reflects the reason I get up and come to work everyday.

My values, and the values embedded in this budget, are to do everything I can as Governor to strengthen our families and communities, and improve our quality of life.

The budget I am signing today reaffirms my commitment to those values.

This budget will strengthen our communities by making them safer. We are making significant investments in protecting communities from sex offenders and gangs.

It will help communities that have been hit hard by the December storms to recover and flourish by providing assistance to those in need and taking major steps toward better flood protection for the Chehalis River basin.

And this budget will make life better for Washingtonians by investing in the priorities of our residents.

It will make our health care system safer, our environment cleaner, care for our vulnerable adults and kids better and our education system stronger. It will help Washingtonians find or keep their homes. All of these contribute to a strong quality of life for all our citizens.

And this budget will make our economic future more secure. I am leaving an $850.2 million dollar surplus to ensure we can meet the needs of the future, one of the largest supplemental budget surpluses in our state�s history at a time when about 30 states face deficits.

I appreciate the work the Legislature did to get us to an $835 million surplus in their budget. They started at about $750 million, and worked hard to push this number up to $835 million.
Since then, I have combed carefully through the budget and used my veto pen to trim more than another $15.2 million to reach an $850.2 million total. I am especially pleased to have an initial deposit of $446 million in the rainy-day fund.

Most of the new spending in the budget is a result of circumstances beyond our control � things like increased caseloads and legal obligations. There are very few new programs. But the few we started are important.

I know that for many businesses and families, the national economy is very threatening.

Certainly Washington is not immune to U.S. economic conditions, and people in our state are understandably anxious.

The bottom line for anybody who cares to take a serious look is that Washington�s economy is faring a lot better than most states in the current national slowdown.

Those who say state government is spending too much are the same people who also like what�s in the budget, and recognize it represents the right investments in the future.

And they even suggest more spending and tax cuts too, which is the same as spending more.

The choices are difficult.

Do the critics want to increase class sizes in our schools so kids get less attention from teachers?

Do they want to cut back enrollment at our colleges and universities?

How about cutting the number of workers in the skilled trades that businesses clamor for?

How about health care for kids? Anyone favor eliminating coverage for children?

Wise investments and management in the past few years have helped insulate Washington from the national economic downturn. It�s an investment strategy that is working.

When I took office, I inherited an immediate, $2.2 billion budget deficit and a projected shortfall for ensuing years of $5 billion. We showed then that we could tighten our belts, and if we have to, we will again.

We attacked the deficit with good management practices. We prioritized spending. We funded programs that got results and cut those that didn�t produce a return for taxpayers.

Now is not the time to abandon our investment in the growth of Washington�s economy.

Our investments will pay off in the long term through economic development, education, health care and a cleaner environment.

Sound management of taxpayer resources, like we addressed in this and recent legislative sessions, impressed the Pew Center when they recently graded all the states. Washington earned a top tier ranking as one of the nation�s best managed states, including our money management and infrastructure planning.

I am also signing a $277 million capital budget today to address important community needs throughout the state.

The supplemental capital construction program supports more than 1,100 new jobs per year over the next four years. This is the kind of economic stimulus that really works. We need policies that generate paychecks -- not a single check.

The truth is, here in Washington, we are doing everything we should to ensure we will be economically secure going forward and will remain a key player in a global, diversified economic future.

I want again to thank the Legislature for all of their hard work on this budget, and my own staff for their many hours of analysis to help me make the right decisions for our state.