Legislature opens amidst billion dollar budget hole, Senate coup

Despite plenty of talk about a new spirit of bipartisanship in Olympia, the Washington State Legislature opens its new session Monday facing a sharply divided Senate that has many Republicans and Democrats already at odds.

Democratic state Sen. Rodney Tom, D-Bellevue, is expected to take the reigns as majority leader of a new coalition made up of several breakaway Democrats and Republicans who’ve effectively wrested control from majority Democrats.

“People want us to govern on issues, not on party politics,” Tom said at a legislative preview on
TVW. “You know, I come down here to represent my constituents, not the Democratic party.”

Tom said the top issues will be education, the budget, and jobs. He said many other issues may have to be left by the wayside to focus on those priorities.

While he promised to reach across both sides of the aisle, there are sharp divides on how to find solutions to a roughly $1 billion budget shortfall, a state Supreme Court mandate to improve education funding, and continued unemployment woes.

Soon to be Senate Minority Leader Ed Murray, who would have been Majority Leader before the coup, has criticized Tom and the new coalition for unfairly taking over and setting the stage for contentious battles, especially over budget cuts, unemployment, collective bargaining for teachers and other issues.

And how to pay not only for education but to close the budget gap remains a daunting question. Newly-elected Governor Jay Inslee continues vowing to stick to his campaign promise not to propose any tax increases to generate new revenues.

“I still believe that is the way forward and I’m going to entertain every creative idea on how to solve this fiscal problem from any point of the political compass and I’m serious about this. We are all in this together,” he said.

Even if Inslee and the Senate can find some common ground, there’s still the issue of the Democratic-led House. The Seattle Times reports House Appropriations Committee Chair Ross Hunter, D-Medina, doubts Tom’s agenda will get much traction, especially any proposed cuts to programs favored by longtime Speaker Frank Chopp.

“It’s the stuff that makes the legislature melt down,” Hunter told the Times.

But Tom remains hopeful the new challenges facing the state can help forge an unprecedented and bipartisan breakthrough that transcends longstanding political divides.

“We have people out there that are suffering. We have people that need jobs. We have an education system that needs to be ramped up. There’s a lot of serious issues that we need to attack,” he said.