"Rainy day" plan would force state to save for hard times

OLYMPIA — Washington residents know all about preparing for rainy days, but political leaders in Olympia acknowledge that they have trouble saving for the budgetary rainy days that roll around with regularity.

Gov. Christine Gregoire and key lawmakers from both parties say that puts the state on an endless roller coaster, expanding the government during good times and chopping back or raising taxes when those hard times inevitably come.

"We're got to have a savings account," shielded from easy spending by lawmakers or vulnerable to the initiative process, the governor said at a news conference last week.

Democrat Gregoire and large majorities of the state House and Senate propose a mandatory fix that will be on the November ballot: a "rainy day" fund that would build up to $1 billion or more during good times. During recession or in the case of earthquake, terrorist attack or other disaster, the money could be tapped by simple-majority vote in Olympia. Lawmakers also could access it with 60 percent supermajorities.

The new plan is essentially enforced discipline, to smooth out peaks and valleys. Contributions would be automatic and the cash would be pretty much off-limits.

The whole system would be set in concrete in the state Constitution, with fairly tight restrictions on withdrawals. The "rainy day" measure, Senate Joint Resolution 8206, would automatically set aside 1 percent of state government revenue each year, roughly $150 million.

It would take a 60 percent supermajority to tap, unless the governor declares an emergency or job growth has slumped to less than 1 percent, when a simple majority would suffice.

The emergency would have to be an actual catastrophe, like an earthquake, and not simply a budget shortfall.