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Rep. Bill Hinkle, R-Cle Elum, planned to introduce his “Campaign Financing Fairness Act” on the first day of the special session, called by Gov. Chris Gregoire to address the state’s dire financial woes.
Because of a state law in effect since 1992, Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna is prohibited as a state elected official from raising funds for his gubernatorial campaign during the special session and during the first 60 days of the regular session. That puts a freeze on his fund-raising until the second week of March.
Initiative 134, adopted overwhelmingly by the voters, was designed to prevent “buying” votes or the appearance of influencing state legislation via campaign contributions.
Because the leading Democratic candidate for governor, U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, holds federal office, the restriction doesn’t apply to him.
Hinkle’s bill, which would put a concurrent fundraising freeze on Inslee, almost certainly is being introduced at the behest of McKenna. In politics, friends seldom surprise friends.
The state’s community colleges and universities, public schools, health care, safety nets – to mention a few – may be on the line. And thousands of stakeholders may be clamoring outside the hallowed chambers of the Capitol to protest the draconian cuts.
But House minority whip Hinkle’s first order of business is to level the playing field for McKenna.
By contrast, former state Sen. Alex Deccio, R-Yakima, who died Oct. 25 at age 89, consistently worked toward bipartisan solutions, especially when it came to health care for children, the elderly and afflicted.
Among his notable achievements during the 22 years that he was top Republican on the Senate Health Care Committee, he helped usher in the Basic Health Plan, which has provided state-subsidized health insurance for low-income people since 1987.
Basic Health already has been forced to drop 70,000 individuals due to previous budget cuts, and is at risk of total elimination, leaving 35,000 without coverage at a time when 150,000 people are on its waiting list.
Gregoire earlier had proposed a 2012-2013 supplemental budget which would cut nearly $2 billion from the current spending plan.
However, last week she proposed a temporary half-cent increase in the state sales tax in the hope of raising $494 million, the lion’s share going to education at all levels.
Unfortunately, the Basic Health Plan was not listed among her options to be spared from cuts, even though the Obama administration has pledged to match the funds necessary to keep it alive until the Affordable Health Care Act emerges in 2014.
However painful, her omission of Basic Health is understandable. If the 35,000-person limit must be maintained, a sales tax increase would certainly be a hard sell to voters who have either lost coverage or can’t get it.
Unlike the federal government, the state’s spending options are limited to whatever funds it actually collects. There’s no debt ceiling it can raise.
Because of last year’s voter approved Initiative 1053, the Legislature is prohibited from raising taxes unless it can muster a two-thirds majority in both houses. Short of that miracle unfolding, the sales tax increase must be put to the voters.
Up to this point, the principle of the more ill-informed the voter, the more likely to oppose any tax increase has served the GOP well.
Last year’s Initiative 1107, for example, which repealed the Legislature’s sales tax hike on candy and soda pop, effectively added another $200 million hole to the state budget.
Hope springs eternal that the voting public will wake up before it’s too late. Republican leadership evidently won’t.
David Rupel is a retired systems consultant with DSHS. A member of The Olympian’s Board of Contributors, he can be reached at DGRupel@gmail.com.
