The stark reality of Washington state's budget options
THREE years ago, when the state entered this financial chasm, Gov. Chris Gregoire offered the people optimism and a serving of denial. Not anymore. She offers us reality: "This is what our options look like."
They are not nice — but nice is not an option.
She is proposing to end the Basic Health Plan for low-income residents. She has proposed this before, and the Legislature shrank it but did not kill it. Last week a judge ordered the state to reopen the plan to 11,000 people who were cut from it. The judge, however, did not have to come up with the money — and it is not there.