Wait OK, if reforms result
State lawmakers won't achieve the Gov. Chris Gregoire's goal of filling a $1.4 billion budget shortfall -- and leaving another $600 million in reserves -- by Christmas. It appears they may get about a quarter of the way there this week as they wind down their special session, leaving the most difficult decisions for the regular session that starts next month.
Such delay comes at a cost. The longer cuts are put off, the deeper they eventually must be. But if budget negotiators reach agreement on some meaningful reforms that put the state budget on a more sustainable path, the wait may have been justified.
That is, we realize, a very big "if."