Legislature should meet in special session to stem tide of red ink
THE new revenue forecast reduces state revenues expected by June 30, 2011, by $385 million and $1.2 billion by June 2013. That is the last straw. The Legislature must come into special session in December and make immediate cuts to state programs.
This page called for such a session last summer. Gov. Chris Gregoire refused to call it because Democratic leaders in the Senate and House did not want it. Instead, she ordered across-the-board cuts of 6.3 percent of fiscal 2011 funds, except for public schools and bond interest. Because the fiscal year already had begun, the cuts in unspent funds were more than 8 percent.