Mixed crowd shares concerns with legislators at 45th LD's mid-session town hall

With less than three weeks left in the legislative session, many state lawmakers returned home this weekend in order to hear from their constituents and in return, got an earful.

Disgruntled voters filled the Kirkland City Council chambers to capacity and spilled out the doors at the 45th legislative district’s town hall meeting on Saturday. Senator Eric Oemig and Representatives Larry Springer and Roger Goodman spent an hour and a half deciphering rambling rants from constituents and counteracting them with facts and figures. They used humor to defuse voters’ anger over possible tax increases, and left nothing to chance with two police officers present, an unusual sight for this type of event.

The anti-tax crowd was there in force, but there were also progressives, teachers, environmentalists, and advocates for education and the elderly present. Not everyone was hostile, but the hostile were the most vocal.

The main topics included government spending, taxation and education. It seems that many people don’t remember that only last year the state cut $9 billion from its budget and is now poised to cut a billion more.

Many who were present directed their personal frustrations onto the legislature which is making moves to raise new revenue in order to balance a $2.8 billion budget deficit. One man accused the legislature of extravagant spending. Representative Goodman defended the state’s spending increase in the mid 2000s by explaining that the majority of that increase was requested by voters who passed citizen initiatives to decrease school class size and increase teacher pay. Washington’s surge in population growth during this time also caused the government to grow, since more citizens require more government services.

All three legislators support a bill that is the biggest source of new revenue under Governor Gregoire’s tax proposal, an increase in the hazardous substance tax on petroleum and other toxic chemicals, HB 3181. The bill has two goals: to shore up the state’s general fund and to provide money to protect the Puget Sound from damaging storm water runoff. The legislators think the bill has a good chance of passage, although Representative Springer announced plans to first amend it in the House. Springer believes that money raised by taxing the makers of toxins should go toward cleaning up those toxins and not for general spending. This is also an argument made by the oil industry.

One of the smartest things the legislators did was to share their values with the audience. They told the group that above all, they valued education, protecting our natural resources and supporting Washington’s most vulnerable citizens. The budget they help to pass will reflect those values.

The state will have to continue to cut its budget this year, but it will also raise new revenue. Whether or not voters in the 45th district, or the rest of Washington, will see the resulting budget as a reflection of our state’s values remains to be seen. Some legislators can be proud of standing up for their values against an angry mob. That's leadership.