Data pit budget against income

By Brad Shannon | The Olympian • Published July 21, 2008

Republicans and tax-control advocate Tim Eyman have been hammering on Democrats for months, accusing them of jacking up state spending by an unsustainable 30-plus percent since Gov. Chris Gregoire took office in 2005.

But a Seattle think tank has offered a new angle on that general-fund budget growth.

The left-of-center Washington State Budget and Policy Center says that while an actual 31 percent increase in state spending might seem large, it tracks the recent growth in the state's economy — measured as personal income of all residents.

And the share of the state's economy spent by the state government's general-government funds held steady near 6 percent during the past decade. That was true even when Republicans controlled the Legislature and after voters passed Eyman's tax-cutting measures. For 2007-09, the $33.7 billion in general fund-related spending is 6.1 percent of the economy.

"It has surprised me how consistent it's been," researcher Jeff Chapman said this week. "It's an important concept. Using a figure like 31 percent increase does not take into account growing needs or a growth in population."

Eyman, who has been pushing Gregoire's budget writers to say she would let voters reject any tax increases next year, was quick to ridicule Chapman's figures, calling it "complete contortionism."

"It is absolutely acrobatic, what they are trying to do, to justify something that is unjustifiable. They just went on a hog-wild spending spree that is entirely unsustainable," Eyman said.

Chapman said the comparison between incomes, which reflect a growing economy, and spending shows "spending has not been out of control" and that new revenue is needed in the next budget cycle.

Under Gregoire and majority Democrats, the spending was 6.2 percent of all personal incomes in 2005-07 and 6.1 percent in the ongoing budget cycle. That is a similar percentage as in other budget cycles since 1994 — hitting 6.6 percent in 1995-97 and dropping to 6 percent in 1999-01, 6.2 percent in 2001-03 and 5.9 percent during the downturn of 2003-05.