‘Look at the full picture’: Gee and Ursula weigh in as 2 former Democratic governors slam WA’s spending

Former Washington Governor Gary Locke is the second former Democratic governor to publicly question the state’s spending, saying “there’s no budget discipline” among lawmakers in Olympia and warning they’re making long-term promises they may not be able to afford.

Former Governor Christine Gregoire made similar remarks recently, noting that the budget was $33 billion when she left office but has since ballooned to $80 billion.

“We find ourselves at the end of every legislative session now, in the hole and projected to be in the hole,” Gregoire previously said. “I would suggest we don’t really have an income problem; we have a spending problem. And we’re answering it by stacking one more tax, one more rule, one more regulation, and the one thing the business community doesn’t need is that lack of predictability.”

Gee argues the budget debate leaves out a crucial factor: COVID-19

Gee Scott, co-host of “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio, questioned why the COVID-19 pandemic tends to be left out of the budget conversation, noting that millions of dollars were allocated to new programs, but after the federal funding dried up, states were left to fund it themselves.

“It’s like going to court, but then you leave out a big piece of evidence, and you wonder why,” Gee said. “If you are talking about government spending increasing in Washington, and you not one time mention the 100-year global pandemic and the federal funding that was coming, and you don’t bring up new programs that have happened, the emergencies, mental health, PPP loans that were forgiven for rich people not to pay back, or you don’t talk about the federal government and how that budget has gone up, why?

“If you want to argue about how Washington has not done a good job of spending after the pandemic, and argue that lawmakers created programs and kept going with it, that’s a fair discussion to have, but don’t write about the budget and leave out the 100-year global pandemic,” he continued. “Why does COVID conveniently not get brought up? ‘Well, that was four years ago.’ Um, the response to COVID still has us behind.”

Co-host Ursula Reutin suggested that there may not be enough pushback on Democratic policies, as they have control of each house, but at the end of the day, all factors must be considered when looking to make cuts from the budget.

“Not only COVID, but also the state has added more than one million residents since then, and costs have grown for schools,” Ursula said. “I do think that state lawmakers having all control of all houses, including the governor’s office, I think that there is a problem in that there is not enough pushback. When you’re dealing with a major deficit, you do need to make hard cuts, and that is something the governor is asking for right now. I mean, your point is well taken. You’ve got to look at the full picture, and then decide.”

Ursula points to the income tax as an incomplete fix

Gee continued to emphasize how pivotal the COVID-19 pandemic was in putting Washington in a budget deficit, and Ursula mentioned how the implementation of the income tax would still leave the state in a hole, further agreeing with Locke and Gregoire’s statements.

“I just don’t know how it’s possible to leave that out,” Gee said. “COVID wasn’t just some health crisis that we dealt with; it completely changed how government spending is happening. There’s a real, legitimate debate that can be had. You can question some spending, but don’t just say, ‘Wow, I don’t understand what happened,’ and then you don’t bring up COVID. To me, that’s weird.”

“Now they’re trying to do this millionaires’ tax, which even after that passes, there’s still going to be a budget deficit,” Ursula said. “I have great respect for Gary Locke and Christine Gregoire, and they are seeing what is happening right now in their own party when it comes to decisions being made and how they’re going about addressing the deficit. When you’ve got two Democratic governors saying the same thing, I absolutely do think they’ve got a great point.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.