Republican Senator says WA can balance budget without tax increases or teacher salary cuts

State Senator Chris Gildon (R-Puyallup) and his Republican colleagues have proposed a new budget that they say would reduce the deficit without tax increases. And he says all the math adds up, using data from nonpartisan legislative staff.

Governor Bob Ferguson’s office projects the state currently faces a deficit of around $12 billion, though Republicans contend it could be as high $15 billion.

Sen. Gildon says the first step is to acknowledge that there are certain things the state simply can’t pay for this year.

“The biggest of those is the collective bargaining agreements negotiated by Governor Inslee… that’s $4 billion worth of raises that he negotiated. There’s no way you can slice or dice the budget and find the money for those without new taxes,” Gildon told “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.

But Gildon says there’s a way to honor the agreement without raising taxes.

“We’re going to offer every single state employee a $5,000 bonus and we’re going to say, ‘go back, renegotiate the contract with the Ferguson administration and then come back to the legislature at a later date,’” explained Gildon.

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Republicans say teachers don’t have to see a pay cut

Gildon also assuaged fears that teachers would have to take a pay cut.

“We do not make any cuts to K-12 education. As a matter of fact, we make investments into K-12 education. We’re able to find $200 million each for school operating costs, as well as special education,” said Gildon.

You can listen to the full interview with Sen. Gildon below.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here. Follow Jason on X, formerly known as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.