After installing a budget app on my phone, I saw how much money I spent on beer every month. This was eye-opening for me, and clearly couldn't continue. I deleted the app. #problemsolved
Looks like our state legislature’s motto is “Spend first, think later!” When Gov. Inslee took office in 2013, the state’s budget was $38 billion. Now? It’s nearly double—a whopping $76 billion. What gives?!
Here are Five Fast Facts on Washington’s Budget Blunders:
- 🤏 Just A Wee Bit Short - The state’s expecting a $10-12 billion hole in its next two-year budget. Why? Higher demand for services, inflation, and lower tax revenue. That’s the official story, but plenty of folks are calling 🐄💩 on it.
- 🙈 Growing Wrong - The state’s been growing… just not the right way. In four years, state workers grew 10%, teaching staff 25%—but principals ballooned 42%, and other non-teaching roles shot up 54%! Now teachers make up just a third of education staff. Who’s doing this math, a 6th grader?
- ⚕️ Paying People To Not Work - A recent audit of Washington State’s Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program found that thousands of people used a loophole to cash checks from both PFML and unemployment to the tune of millions of dollars. The program has already been bailed out once and is on pace to need another in the next year. The icing on this wasteful cake is that people making at least $60/hour are using this program more than twice as much as low income workers. 🤦
- 📉 On The Wall - A couple of departments (Department of Social and Health Services and Department of Transportation) are seeing the writing on the wall and have already frozen non-essential hiring and begun delaying or pausing programs. Rare signs of sanity and common sense in government…?
- 🤯 Tone Deaf - The state legislature, however, seems to be trying to solve the wrong problem. Rather than cutting costs like some departments, they are pretty darned sure it’s a good time for a raise for themselves, and a wealth tax for everyone else. You just can’t make this stuff up!
🔥Bottom line: When will the government stop wasting taxpayer money? Obviously, not until taxpayers demand accountability.
Do you think there will ever be accountability for government spending?
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