Joe Turner at Political Buzz reports there will be a special, preliminary state revenue forecast on Feb. 19, at the request of Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver, and several other lawmakers, including Sen. Joe Zarelli, D-Ridgefield. Apparently Pridemore thinks lawmakers need to get an early look ahead of the scheduled March 19 forecast, so they can well, be more worried.
Tough times. What’s the over-under?
I bet Cynical has the best over/under! He started calling this way last year.
Cynical – your take?
What do you expect with leaders like Gregoire, Nickels and Sims? When you hire thousands of new extra state workers and then give many of them a 25% pay increase what do you expect?
When none of these so called leaders have ever worked in the private sector, you’re going to have financial problems. None of them have any idea what it takes to make a payroll.
And while we have problems it’s a good thing the wise and brave people of Washington rejected the liar Dino Rossi and the impotent GOP or we’d be in worse trouble. The landslide victory for our Democratic Governor should give her the go ahead to do whatever she deems proper-fuck the traitors on the right. They lost.
John- and what is the link between revenue and expenditures? The point here is that revenues are down, and expected to drop further.
John- and what is the link between revenue and expenditures? The point here is that revenues are down, and expected to drop further.
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The point is revenues being down wouldn’t be of such vital concern IF they even remotely matched expenses. Cities, counties and states can be faulted for not heeding the repeated warnings that go back at least four years regarding a housing and credit bubble. Instead, they acted as though the good times would just go on and on and on. That was foolish, and not even in hindsight.
That may be your point.
The fact remains expenditures do not directly affect revenues. The reverse is true.
And a drop in revenues would be a problem regardless of expenditures.
I’m thinking that the number will be $7.9 billion.
That may be your point.
Evidently.
And a drop in revenues would be a problem regardless of expenditures.
No, a drop in revenue is a much bigger problem when the projected difference between revenue and expense is big and getting bigger. As Joe Turner wrote:
“This is where we find out if we’re facing a $7 billion or $7.5 billion or $8 billion budget shortfall over 30 months. And since Congress is supposed to pass a $900 billion stimulus package by President’s Day, lawmakers also will have the benefit of knowing how much Obama Claus money is on its way to this Washington.”
Indeed. A drop in revenue would be much less of an issue if the projected deficits weren’t so large. That’s the problem – a problem that could have been anticipated (let’s make this a footnote).
Sen. Joe Zarelli is an R not a D.
John — I’m a state employee. I sure as hell would like to know where my 25% raise is.
Jen
You should immediately call your union leaders as well as the queen and ask them where your raise is.
You are not underpaid, especially when you throw in your pension, health care and other benefits. And there are way to many of you!
1. Puddybud, Hey it’s the New Year… spews:
U-G-L-Y!!
But not as ugly as the State Retirement Fund LOSING $15.6 BILLION in 15 months when their actuarial projections of +8% return or approx. $7 BILLION GAIN.
Gee $22.6 BILLION Upside Down on the Pension Fund (when it was already $5.1 BILLION Underfunded) AND somewhere around $7.3 BILLION Shortfall for this next Biennium.
Great job by Gregoire and the State Democrats!
It was real important to keep spending and make almost no cuts so the Deficit got bigger….NOT!
Complete Fiscal Mismanagement.
Pridemore & Zarelli are being fiscally responsible demanding to know what the score is. Just because it’s always been done in March doesn’t mean in these times you shouldn’t ask for a more frequent handle on it.
Gregoire has been living in denial. What do you expect from a 39 year Bureaucrat??
She is in over her head.
Goes to bed at night praying Obama will bail her out.
Oh and revenue is not related to expenses??
Moron. Expenses were INCREASED by Gregoire & Dems BECAUSE REVENUES WERE UP.
K’s thinking is not really thinking…
IT’S THE PROBLEM!!!!!!!!!!!
Cynical:
I’m sure Queen Chrissy is looking for some bailout dough, hoping it will rise and take care of the state’s hunger. Did you read how the auto bailout is going?
Detroit Free Press and AP
Had we had a Publican Governor like California we’d be in worse shape. There they are issuing IOUs to people instead of state tax refunds. GOP = fiscal mismanagement. No wonder America voted the retarding right out of office.
@1: You mean the idiot cynical who claimed the economy was “sound” only last august? Who claimed we were not in a recession because things were going well for him?
turns out we were already in a recession and cynical nailed it – completely wrong again.
http://lbloom.net/
@ 11, you should check out the above web site. The author of this site at one time had a beef with state employees like you. He thought they were over paid. Through the “Freedom of Information Act” he has obtained the wages of state employees, school district employees, some cities and county employees. He once said on his web site that he has come to see that state employees are not paid as much as he thought they were.
Also through the WA State Depart. of Personnel’s web site you can find the salaries of job classes.
So please educate yourself before stating facts that are not true.
I have worked for the federal government, U.S. Navy, private industry, as a construction labor, and for the State of Washington. I made more money in the Navy and private construction than I do now as a Washington State employee. But I like doing what I do for the state even though it pays less. It is called “economic rent”, working at a job that pays low but is enjoyable work. I enjoyed the job so much that I use to donate hundreds of hours without pay to the state. For the most part, I don’t any longer for various reason. One being the cheap skates like the trolls on this blog who don’t appreciate the extra effort. Now I expect to be paid!
Like Jen S. said, “I sure as hell would like to know where my 25% raise is.” That didn’t happen! Last year we got less than 2%, the year before that, 3%. And before that, we went years with no raise at all while everybody else was getting 5% a year or more. Even my barber has been raising his prices 20% a year now for years. It’s getting to the point where I am thinking of cutting what hair I have left myself.
As for the benefits, we pay much of that ourselves. Even before I see my paycheck, more than 50% is taken out. Not just for federal taxes, but for state retirement, medical, dental, and other so called benefits. Twenty years ago, my medical was great, but not so much now. My brother who still works in private construction pays less and gets more from his employer’s medical benefits. Retirement is good, but not as good as it use to be. Under the old system you could retire in your fifties if you met the requirements. Now, you have to work until you are 65 to get a retirement check. That is if you can live that long, many people don’t. And when you have a hard physical job it gets real difficult to work until you are 65. The new employees have it even worst. They still have to work until 65, but they get half the state guaranteed retirement check. The other half comes from a retirement savings plan much like a 401k, and we all know how well they are doing. So you trolls that are worried the state retirement plan wouldn’t have money enough to pay our retirement check, you have nothing to worry. Most of us will be dead before we either collect or get very many checks. I think there will be plenty of money left.
cnr–
I did say the economy was good for me…because I sold off all stocks when the Dow hit 14,000 & real estate near the peak and put most of it into CD’s @ 5.25%. Then I played short-term market swings successfully.
Hardly rocket science.
You KLOWNS are jealous cus you were too busy bitchin’ about Bush. A lot of good it has done you.
Yup, this recession is deeper than I expected…but I was prepared and you weren’t.
Jealousy & envy.
And Gregoire spent like a drunken sailor even though she knew it was coming. How irresponsible is that?
And she has too this date failed to cut government in a meaningful way. Just window-dressing for the ignorant press and morocin KLOWNS. The problem ain’t goin’ away anytime soon…
17. John T. spews:
Nice try at misleading us into merely looking at wages. The HONEST thing to look at is TOTAL COMPENSATION. TOTAL COMPENSATION includes ALL BENEFITS and puts a value of ALL PAID TIME-OFF (incl Vacation, Sick Leave, Holidays & Personal Days off).
You are a DISHONEST bastard John T.
The true cost of a State Employee besides Wages, Benefits and Paid Time-off is also OVERHEAD related to that employee.
What is the COST TO TAXPAYERS.
Eat sh*t John T you commie!
TOTAL COMPENSATION!!
That is what State Employees get!
John T is obviously a state employee, married to one OR JUST PLAIN STUPID.
Hey John T, did ya take a big gulp of STEVE’S STUPID SOLUTION??
Oh and a DEFINED BENEFIT PENSION PLAN based on the employees highest 2 years wages??
That is real fair to taxpayers.
Bastard.
Mr Cynical, I did include benefits when I talked about retirement and insurances, or are you incapable of reading. No wonder you are a right winger, you have a lot of difficulty in comprehending what you read. I also said I was a state employee, further proof you can’t read.
I didn’t take a “gulp” of anyone’s solutions. I just explained my experience as both a government worker and private industry worker.
Further proof that facts evade you is that state retirement for plan 2 & 3 is based on the five highest years, not two years that you claimed. There are very few plan 1 employees left that get the two year base. And if you are not math challenged then you would know that lowers the retirement check even more, so the state saves more money after the employee turns 65 and is eligible for it. Like I said before, many people don’t live long after 65, so are still living off the part of the State Retirement they paid into the system, not the tax payers.
Is it fair to taxpayers? Yes it is, specially when cheap skate, greedy bastards like you want and demand the services that state employees provide but you don’t want to pay for it. I live in King County and recently the State wanted to close the Tokul Creek Fish Hatchery. You should have heard the screams from the local business owners who make a living from the steelhead trout that are produced at that hatchery. Even the local Republican State representative and senator got into the picture against its closure. So, you tell me, how is the state going to save money when even the Republicans wouldn’t let them, cut wages? Then you better provide another benefit for the employees if you expect them to keep working for you and doing the job you want.
Besides, aren’t you from Montana? What do you care what this state does, you have enough problems in your state.
John T spews:
I pay more Property Taxes in Washington than you do so I have a vested interest in what happens. And 2 of our kids live there.
Seems that you CONVENIENTLY OMITTED PAID TIME-OFF in your bullshit analysis. If paid time-off has no value, State Employees should forgo it. Right?
You can generally estimate it at 15% of the wages & benefits.
Here’s some news for you John T–
Businesses, which create jobs, create wealth & pay taxes….OWNERS DON’T GET ANY PAID TIME-OFF!! Quite a revelation, huh?
And your argument that people demand services is the cause of our ever-increasing bureaucracy is ok…but begs the question WHERE ARE THE LEADERS??
We should have cut 10,000 jobs a year ago and had a real hiring freeze. Hey John T, look at Gregoire’s own Governor’s Office Budget.
She has 40+ staffers with salary over $100,000.
Gary Locke only had 7.
It’s obscene….and so are you for defending this BS.
Mr Cynical, you said, “I pay more Property Taxes in Washington than you do so I have a vested interest in what happens.” That sure is presumptuous of you unless you are so filthy rich that there aren’t that many people who own as much land as you. That might explain why you are so greedy and non-caring that you don’t want other people to have a livable wage. Besides, you are right, I don’t own any real property. I did, but the state job required that I move, so I sold it. I am happy you are rich, I hope you came by it honestly.
I didn’t “CONVENIENTLY OMITTED PAID TIME-OFF”. I just left it off, because for retirment purposes it doesn’t count. That is what I was mostly talking about, retirement. Yes, under the old plan 1, un-used time off counted when figuring out the employee’s retirement. Under Plan 2 and 3, it doesn’t. So those benefits don’t count toward the taxpayer’s cost for state employee’s retirement for us plan 2 and 3 people.
We are told by our accounting people when figuring the budget to include a 30% markup from the gross wages of the employees working for us. That includes those benefits, plus the computers, lawn mowers, tractors, etc, that we have the privilege of using to support the job we are doing for the citizens. So that takes my $40,000 a year cost to about $52,000 a year. That sure isn’t enough to break the bank.
Also the state agency I work for, like private business, does bring wealth and taxes to the community. My office brings so much wealth to the community that when the state threatened to close it eighteen years ago, the community rose up and stopped them. My agency also pays state sales taxes and property taxes. Actually, the county has a choice of either collecting property taxes or taking the fine we generate from outlaws. Most counties take the fines since there are a lot of outlaws out there.
Your question, “Where are the leaders?” is a good question. And until citizens educate themselves and demand action, these leaders wouldn’t or can’t do anything.
Do I defend Gregoire having 40+ staffers making $100,000. I don’t know, maybe she needs that many now. And $100,000 isn’t much when people in private industry doing that type of work are making anywhere from double to ten times that much. You seem to know more about that than I, so I will leave that for you to decide.
What I do know is that she has order state agencies to start laying off people. My agency was told 10% and we were told we would know who by April. Along with Microsoft, Boeing, Weyerhaeuser, etc, that will add to the woes of this state. My 27 years experience with the state is that it will be the people out in the field who actually are doing the work for the citizens who will be laid off. Since Gregoire isn’t a micromanager, most governors aren’t, she wouldn’t know until all is said and done. The relatively, to field workers, big paid bureaucrats who make the decision on who goes and who stays aren’t going to lay themselves. off. That’s where you need concerned citizens who will say, yes you are! If there are no more field workers, cops, biologist, forester, park rangers, why do we need a Director, a Deputy Director, a dozen Assistant Directors who each has several assistant to the Assistant Directors. Who are they going to supervise?
I’m sure Queen Chrissy is looking for some bailout dough, hoping it will rise and take care of the state’s hunger. Did you read how the auto bailout is going?
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Certainly city government everywhere is piling onto the proposed stimulus package:
http://www.usmayors.org/mainst.....200901.pdf
See page 332 for Seattle’s wish list. Aside from what’s being requested, I have an idea Seattle – and most cities – will discover a cost “ineffective” solution for many of these projects, if they move forward.
B0YCQn hi! this is