Senior Lobby Day (As Prepared)

February 23, 2012

Good Morning, and thank you Walt (Bowen) for the introduction.

Thank you � all of you � for the support you�ve shown me, and more importantly, for standing up for our senior citizens� safety net.

The Great Recession has taken its toll � but let�s remember �

I�ve been governor more than seven years. In that time, we�ve done a lot.

For example, in a recent national report, AARP said what we already know � Washington State offers some of the best long-term care in the country.

In fact, AARP ranks us second among the states in both quality and scope of our long-term care system.
We give seniors what they want and deserve � more in-home and adult family care. And in doing so we saved money to use for better care to more people.

After four years of plunging revenue and budget cutting, things are looking up.

Aerospace...International Trade...Life Sciences...High Tech.

But recovery is fragile. Much to keep an eye on. European Debt. Iran. Rising gas prices, which hurt spending.

Congress scared everybody last summer and blew a hole in consumer confidence and spending.

Until confidence fully returns, small business and employment will suffer.

In the past four years, we�ve cut and cut and cut � $10.5 billion.

We�ve had good news in our caseload and revenue forecasts since I proposed my budget three months ago.

But the new forecasts � combined with early legislative budget cuts in December � still leave us with a shortfall of half billion dollars.

At the same time, given the fragile recovery, we need to leave at least $600 million in reserve, something I�ve said from day one. The economy is still very fragile � the situation in Greece. Higher gas prices.

In short, we still need to solve a $1.1 billion problem.

You know, I sometimes hear that we haven�t cut enough � there�s still enough money.

But what many don�t know is that since the Great Recession started in 2008, our big costs skyrocketed even as our revenue fell!

Medicaid costs alone are up 23 percent!


(And by the way, we have kept Medicaid inflation at about 2 percent, the lowest in the country, while the national average is about 8 percent. And we have made reforms to keep overall health care inflation at 4 percent.)

We�ve cut more than a half billion dollars from long-term care, DD, and mental health alone!

We�ve cut public schools by 26 percent, higher education by 46 percent, and community colleges by 26 percent.

I also hear from some that we haven�t done enough to reform government. Yes, there is more to do, but what we�ve done is historic.

We�re not wasting this crisis. We are reforming and resetting state government! Here is just some of what we�ve done:

Reformed Workers Compensation to save more than $1 billion over four years � the biggest reform in 100 years.

Reformed Unemployment insurance to save $300 million, provide small business the lowest rates in history and make the UI Trust Fund one of the strongest in the country.

Reformed pensions to save $7.6 billion over the next 25 years and make our pension system one of the three strongest in the country.

Consolidated five state agencies into one, saving $18 million in the process.

Closed four prisons, a juvenile facility, and an RHC for the developmentally disabled. The last time we closed even one big institution was when Dan Evans was governor in the 1970s � Northern State Hospital.

Adopted �user-pay� for our state parks and our adult family homes rather than using taxpayer dollars.

Still, here we are again � making more cuts in the things our people need.



With the additional $426 million in funding capacity � capacity I didn�t have when I wrote my budget � I am uncertain about the need for the half-penny tax increase I proposed.

But I can say the priorities that this tax addressed are still my top priorities.

Now, both houses are writing a budget � the House came out with a very promising proposal this week � and I know I can count on your help to make sure that in the end:

Our vulnerable seniors and disabled have the little bit of help they need to live with dignity in their own homes.

Prisoners aren�t leaving prison five months early with no supervision.

Our public schools in property poor districts have the state funds they need to offer solid educations to school children.

And, we stop raising tuition at our community colleges and universities.
We owe it to our future!

Our seniors have a right to live in dignity in their own homes!

And the same goes for citizens with developmental disabilities, many of whom � by the way � live with aging parents!

I believe in Washington values. I believe we have the heart and the will to restore hope for the future.

Since 2008, we�ve done what we had to do. We had to manage devastating budget cuts as best we could, and we did.

At the same time, we accomplished hard-fought, historic reforms to make government work better, faster, cheaper. We are resetting state government!

But we cannot reset it at the expense of basic needs for our seniors, our students, and public safety.

Thank You and I�m happy to take a few questions.