Reader has plan to cut state waste

Your recent editorial suggested voters mistakenly approved Initiative 1366, requiring either lower taxes or a constitutional amendment to control tax increases. It suggested the Supreme Court reject I-1366. The court must remember the Constitution’s Article 1, Section 1 – the people are superior, even over the courts. We passed I-1366 for a reason. The Supreme Court should back off!

Politicians waste taxes through redundant government agencies with duplicated expenses and identical functions. Here are just a few examples:

▪  Seven affirmative action agencies

▪  Seven agriculture agencies

▪  Three gambling agencies

▪  Five health agencies

Gov. Gregoire created the Department of Early Learning. Rather than put it under an existing educational department, she created a new agency with overlapping functions and duplicate staff and resources. She wasted tax money. If this waste continues, the likes of I-1366 will continue.

The state auditor must begin periodic performance audits for every agency. After review, the Legislature must combine functionally similar agencies, eliminate duplicate agencies, and provide a sunset law for every agency. This sunset law must be reviewed at each future audit. Every agency must begin zero-based budgeting on a biennial basis now!

Until these problems are fixed, tax cutting initiatives will succeed and tax reform bills will fail.

Government unions greatly fund left-wing politicians. Union bosses want no governmental review; no sunsetting or downsizing agencies; no zero-based budgeting; and no financial or performance audits. State government has tremendous waste that union bosses and big government politicians do not want fixed.

This story was originally published November 23, 2015 at 10:52 AM with the headline "Reader has plan to cut state waste."