‘This state can’t out-earn a spending problem’: Gee reacts to Ferguson’s office warning to brace for ‘most challenging budget’ yet

The Washington State Office of Financial Management sent out a memo Friday to agency directors warning of “significant budget shortfalls” in both operating and transportation budgets.

“This will likely be the most challenging budget any of us has yet faced in these roles,” the memo stated.

KIRO host Gee Scott said the state’s budget crisis is a problem on both sides: too much spending and rising costs.

“This state can’t out-earn a spending problem,” he said on “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “I do think that the state has a spending problem. Now, let me go to the other end of things. I also agree that the state has rising costs — you see, two things can be true at the same time.”

The state budget problem hits close to home

The governor’s office pointed to inflation, population growth, and rising costs as the reasons for the budget shortfall. Gee asked listeners to put the state aside for a second and think about their own household budgets first, noting that before looking at spending habits, people should consider the fixed costs they pay every single month.

“You have a insurance cost, you have a rent and or mortgage costs, you have a cell phone cost, you have a internet cost, you have a fix or school tuition cost, whatever it might be, you have a fixed cost every single month, and then you have some of the things that might be a certain type of cost, but those things have been going up,” he said. “Energy has gone up in your house; it’s gone up for the state, too. Gas prices have gone up for your house, gone up for the state, too. Everything that we are seeing in our own homes, where costs are going up, can be applied to not just here locally in this state, but all across the country. And that’s before we talk about your spending in your home.”

Gee admitted he has had to clean up his own spending and said the state is no different.

“Not only do you have to clean up the spending, but you have to almost do both,” he said. “You have to clean up the spending, and you also have to watch and see exactly where those expenses are going up that you can’t help, so the same way you do those things, I think that the state, and we can all agree, you can do both.”

Gee added that cutting government jobs should be a last resort, warning that slashing social programs often leads to a rise in homelessness and unemployment.

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.