Brown, who first joined the state legislature as a representative in 1992, said she arrived in Olympia opposed to a tax structure that relied heavily on sales taxes but no personal or corporate income tax. She was sure, she said, that when her fellow legislators realized how regressive and unfair the state revenue system was, they would change it.
After a few years, she said, she decided there would need to be a Democratic governor and Democratic majorities in both houses of the legislature before they’d be able to pass comprehensive tax reform.
“And, now I realize we’re not going to get it now, either,” she said, and laughed. But, she said, things are beginning to change. Reform will happen eventually, she said, but it probably will not originate in the legislature.
“Systemic and structural problems are very difficult to take on because power is so divided,” she said – and because legislative sessions are relatively short, either 90 or 60 days, depending on the year.
New federal healthcare
The final budget package passed last week met the state’s $2.5 billion deficit for 2010-2011 with a combination of fixes, Brown said. One-quarter came from new federal money, one quarter from one-time adjustments and account transfers, one quarter from budget cuts, and one-quarter from raising revenues – in part through tax increases on beer, wine, soda, bottled water and gum.
While the state’s revenue sources are limited, mandated expenditures are growing, she said. Healthcare is a huge expense, she said, because the state funds or contributes to healthcare costs for all state employees, K-12 employees, low-income or disadvantaged people not covered by federal programs, residents of state hospitals and residents of state prisons.
The new federal healthcare legislation should be a big help to the state economy, she said, because it will make it possible for more people to sign up for the current state-run healthcare insurance. With more people in the insurance pool, she said, the state will be able to negotiate better rates. Also, she said, there will be less cost to the state from people who have no insurance but need immediate attention.
Higher ed disadvantaged
Healthcare and public K-12 education consume a huge portion of the state budget, Brown said, and higher education is fighting for an increasingly smaller slice of the pie.
“Higher education is structurally disadvantaged in Washington State,” she said, in part because K-12 education is protected by the state constitution.
According to the constitution, “It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders,” she said, and the word “ample” is significant. But, she said, there is no similar duty regarding higher education.
In addition, she said, every state legislator has K-12 schools in his or her district and the K-12 system has an extremely organized and vocal network of advocacy groups and lobbyists. Conversely, only a few legislators have a four-year university in their backyards. Higher education does have advocates and lobbyists, she said, “but they are not big players in the political system.”
Research emphasized more than teaching
“Not very,” Brown said. She said most legislators are much more aware of what is happening in the K-12 system.
Brown’s visit was sponsored by the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service as part of its Coffee and Politics series.