The Senate voted 31-15 Friday to let Washington join the 30-state Powerball lottery, potentially bringing the state $13 million more in fiscal year 2010.
The vote to allow more gambling games split across party lines. Some social conservatives, such as Republican Sen. Dan Swecker of Rochester, who opposes gambling, voted against it. South Sound’s other three senators, Republican Randi Becker of Eatonville, Democrat Karen Fraser of Thurston County and Democrat Tim Sheldon of Potlatch, all voted in favor.
Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6108 goes back to the House for concurrence before heading to the governor for signing. A fiscal report on the bill suggested that the state could lose some revenue it normally expects from Mega Millions and other existing games, but the state also could lose $4 million without Powerball as neighboring states join the game with huge payouts.
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State Auditor Brian Sonntag fired off a letter to House Speaker Frank Chopp on Friday that blasted cuts to his audit program as “ridiculous and offensive.” At last word, Chopp and Sonntag had spoken about a possible middle ground.
As outlined in the operating budget released in detail Friday, the auditor’s performance audit program gets $10 million — less than the $16 million it spent in the past 21 months on the bang-for-the-buck evaluations of programs, and far less than the $27.4 million Gov. Chris Gregoire had requested.
“The section that sweeps away most of our performance audit funding is ridiculous and offensive both to us and to citizens,” Sonntag wrote. “The cuts are unacceptable and will severely undercut our ability to do independent performance audits.”
Sonntag said it would be unworkable to rely on savings actually accruing from audited agencies as a way to supplement the audit program’s revenues. Chopp responded to Sonntag’s invitation to talk, and Sonntag has suggested a middle ground closer to $21 million, aides said.
Sonntag, a Democrat, showed up at last week’s “Tea Party” rally at the Capitol steps and said he agreed with former President John F. Kennedy that tax increases are not a good way to raise revenue in a recession. His relations with some lawmakers have never been great, and Thursday he appeared on TVW’s Inside Olympia and gave lawmakers an “incomplete” grade on making government more efficient.
Compiled by Brad Shannon
