Senate saves for inevitable rainy day

Even in good economic times — and these are officially good times — the Legislature has to be careful not to overspend. The Senate supplemental budget proposal announced this week saves an impressive $956 million for the next rainy day. This is the best part, because the plan exceeds the governor's commitment to set aside $905 million.

That inclement weather already is forecast. Even though the economy pushed state revenues $107 million higher than expected, experts say the state will see at least a several-hundred-million-dollar deficit by the end of the 2007-09 biennium. Saving now makes sense. Notably, lawmakers stop short of saving a round billion dollars, a figure that tends to trigger initiatives and calls for general tax breaks. With a deficit looming, this is no time for general tax breaks or initiatives that apply feel-good economics to complicated, long-term budgets.

The governor's budget spends about $500 million of the total $1.6 billion surplus; the Senate plan spends about $600 million.

The Senate provides a few reasonable targeted breaks in taxes and fees. For example, the Senate and House want to stop collecting a terribly unpopular $5 day parking fee at state parks. That was a hard-times charge that appropriately goes away in rosier times.

This would be a good time to eliminate the newly reinstated state inheritance tax. The tax is more burden than benefit and legislators would be smart to kill the tax before a statewide initiative does it for them.

On the spending side, the Senate budget does too much of it. Few will quibble with funding 180 additional slots at four-year colleges and universities and 125 new slots at community and technical colleges. Educating our children in our schools is a Washington value.

But other expenditures, such as several million dollars for minor-league baseball parks, are unaffordable, even in an upturn.

Adding more people to the health plan for the working poor makes sense because the uninsured show up at emergency rooms and cost us all in higher long-term medical costs.

After years of budget deficits, the desire to fill holes and ease the pain of earlier budget cuts is understandable. The more prudent course is a healthy savings account and overall spending restraint.