Gary Locke: “There’s No Budget Discipline” in Olympia

Former Washington Gov. Gary Locke offered a blunt assessment of state spending during a brief interview with The Center Square Washington at Thursday’s Economic Future Solutions Summit, hosted by the Association of Washington Business and Washington Roundtable. 

“There’s no budget discipline,” Locke said.

The former Democratic governor was equally direct about the results: “I think spending is out of control in Olympia.”

Locke specifically criticized lawmakers for “taking one-time money and creating permanent programs,” a practice that leaves taxpayers responsible for continuing costs long after the temporary funding disappears. 

Locke is not the first prominent Democratic former governor to publicly challenge the spending decisions being made by today’s leaders in Olympia.

Former Gov. Christine Gregoire, also a Democrat, recently offered a remarkably similar diagnosis: “I would suggest to you we don’t really have an income problem, we have a spending problem.”

When Gregoire left office in 2013, Washington’s operating budget was roughly $33 billion. Today, it is approaching $80 billion. Yet lawmakers continue to warn of shortfalls and insist they need more revenue.

Two former Democratic governors have now used slightly different words to deliver the same warning: Before Olympia asks Washington families and employers to pay even more, current leaders need to demonstrate that they can responsibly manage the record amounts they already collect.

Photo: The Center Square