GOP budget chief gives Gregoire budget plan a cool reception | The ...

Redmond Republican Sen. Andy Hill, head of the Senate Budget Committee under the new Majority Caucus, said the budget submitted by Gov. Christine Gregoire today will be helpful, but the Senate version will reflect its values, not hers.

For the Olympia Report

Sen. Andy Hill (R-Redmond), incoming chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, on Tuesday said the 2013-15 state operating budget put forth earlier in the day by outgoing Gov. Christine Gregoire will be helpful but by no means binding as the Legislature crafts its own budget this spring.

?I appreciate the time and thought Gov. Gregoire and her staff put into the budget she proposed today,? he said. ?Seeing how this is the eighth and final state budget she will offer, it?s a great time to thank the governor for her decades of dedicated service to the people of Washington. What she submitted will be a useful reference as the Senate Majority Coalition Caucus moves forward on developing a sustainable budget that lives within the state?s means.?

Hill was named to head the Budget Committee last week when a bipartisan group of mostly Republican senators coalesced under the leadership of moderate Democratic Sen. Rodney Tom to wrest control from the Democrats, who hold a 26-23 edge in the Senate.

Hill said the next Senate budget will reflect the values of the ?coalition?s commitments to:

? build a world-class education system, including K-12 schools, colleges and universities;
? encourage job growth; and,
? ensure the protection of the state?s most vulnerable residents.

?We will be working under a number of constraints,? he said. ?One is the new state law that requires the budget to balance across four years of projections.?This will have the effect of creating a responsible budget that looks to long-term stability.

?Also, ? Hill said, ?given Gov.-elect (Jay) Inslee?s promise to veto any new taxes, we are moving forward under the assumption that additional taxes are not an option.

?The budgets passed by the Senate in the 2011 and 2012 sessions were the products of bipartisan work,? Hill said. ?I am already reaching out to legislators across the aisle and across the Rotunda, and they are reaching out to me as well. I?m encouraged by the interest in cooperation and see no reason why the Legislature can?t have an approved budget on the governor?s desk in 105 days or less.?

The 2013 legislative session begins on Jan. 14 and is limited by the state constitution to 105 days.

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This entry was posted on December 18, 2012 at 11:46 pm and is filed under Budget & Taxes, Economy, Education, Elections, Environmental Issues, Law, Politics, Property Rights, Unions & Labor. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Source: http://theolympiareport.com/gop-budget-chief-gives-gregoire-budget-a-cool-reception/

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