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STATE EDITORIAL
If we make it work
Think tank says I-695 can work
By the Washington Institute Foundation
with inevitable YVN commentary
 
OLYMPIA (1-05-00)---The Washington Institute Foundation has released a study showing how government can change things following the latest battle in the WA tax revolution.
 
Entitled "25 Commonsense Ways to Implement I-695", the study includes a foreward by State Auditor Brian Sonntag, who probably wouldn't write the forward to a study written by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation.

Paul Guppy, WIF's VP, said voter passage of I-695 presents a challenge for state and local leaders since reduction of car taxes whacks revenues the state collects by about $760 million a year.

 
Many elected officials now say their only choices are to dip into reserves or cut back sharply on basic services. WIF questions whether that's really true.

"Our research shows that's not the case. There are dozens of ways state and local officials can implement I-695 without sacrificing government's essential mission," Guppy said.

Auditor Sonntag says the brief helps prompt public debate. "Through an open exchange of ideas we can restore citizens' trust in government," he said.

Included in the study's 25 proposals are:

  • Devote tobacco settlement loot for health programs. Use $323-million taken in 1999 to replace lost county health funds. (Even extorted money should be put to good use)
  • Tap savings from a reduced welfare caseload. DSHS caseloads have dropped 31 percent in three years, yet the agency employs six percent more people. (Listen to bureaucrats howl. Listen to Democrats howl)
  • Suspend one percent for the arts program, freeing up $1 million. (Suspend the entire arts program, freeing up $100 million)
  • Eliminate Washington's presidential primary, upon which the state spends $3.2 million to choose 12 Republican candidates. (How many Democrats in WIF again?)
  • End the King County Council's annual dole of $1.3 million in "walk around money for its councilmen. (Listen to councilmen pull in their markers)
  • Contract out highway maintenance. Ending the ban on contracting would save $25 million a year in highway maintenance. (Listen to unions squawk, gather like crows on a branch, and break out the megaphones)
  • End prevailing wage in highway construction. Current law needlessly drives up government construction costs. (Watch Democrats puff, posture and pontificate)
  • End prevailing wage in school construction, which ads 20% to costs. Why build five schools for the price of six? (Because Democrats are afraid of unions)
  • Open local garbage collection to competition, to create real choice and lower cost for homeowners. (Can't; unions have Democrats by the short ones)
  • Compete for building and ground maintenance. Private building owners save through competition, why shouldn't government? (Because the state is afraid of public employee unions)
  • Privatize Washington's liquor stores, ending an outdated, 65-year monopoly on hard-liquor sales. (Right on. And get liquor-ciggy police off the payroll instanter)
  • Privatize passenger ferry service. The state doesn't need to shut down passenger ferry service; the private sector can provide it. (What're you trying to do, go back to a capitalistic economy in the Soviet state of Washington? Geez.)
  • Contract out bill collections for city utilities, saving up to 30 percent of current costs. (Entrepreneurs, listen up)
  • Contract out for child welfare services, reducing by months or years the time troubled children now spend in foster care. (Keep the damned state away from our kids)
  • Contract out public health services, which saved Pierce County alone $4.2 million and almost doubled the number of people served. (Hey! That money isn't to help people, its to provide jobs for blipblips who Vote DemonCrap! You call yourself a think tank?)
  • Contract out park operations and maintenance, saving 20%. (Yo, Tom Byers! You want to become a small businessman in Sunnyside? We love ya, but you'll have to provide your own fringe benefits!)
  • Other contracting out opportunities--Indianapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles and dozens of other cities are already benefiting from contracting out. (Let's make a list, shall we?)
  • End free bus passes to county employees, saving over $1.4 million a year. (Does Yakima County offer free bus passes? Stay tuned)
  • Privatize King County's Boeing Field, bringing immediate revenues and add to the long-term tax base of King County. (Move Boeing Field to Sunnyside; scrape Seattle into the Puget Sound)
  • Restrain growth of government spending. State government has grown by 11 percent in the last two years, more than twice the inflation rate. (Cut it back by 22 percent over the next two years, then get serious about it)
  • Restrain growth of government work force. Staters plan to add more than 5,109 new hires to the WA payroll the next 24 months. (Stop Locke in his big-government, left-wing tracks)
  • Restrain growth of county and city work forces. Local governments can achieve major savings by simply restraining their own growth. (Watch feds howl when cities have too few staff to implement feds' unfunded mandates. Remember the 10th Amendment. Let feds howl. Sounds great.)
  • Fully implement Referendum 47 proprty tax limitation, passed by voters in 1997 yet largely ignored. Full implementation would restore trust in government. (Well, it would help a little.)
  • Revitalize the state productivity board. This state board can be used to root out government waste at the deepest levels of the bureaucracy. (Calling all Libertarians. Did you hear THAT? The whole damn board should be Libertarian)
  • Create an alliance for accountability. Proposed by Sonntag, this new "Grace Commission" offers a chance to thoroughly review all public spending while restoring trust in state and local government. (No. Call it the "Commission from Hell" which eats Democrats and Public Union turkeys like peanuts and spits out the bones)
Readers, punch this: q. Go through the state roster and see how many staff you would whack if you got the chance. You can tell what they do by their job titles. Remember, about 85% of any government budget is for on-board or contracted STAFF. And public unions make those staff cost more and more all the time.