Inslee’s parting gift: A pay raise for bureaucracy, a bill for taxpayers

While Inslee’s time in office has been defined by massive increases in government spending and increasing taxes and regulations, a cherry has been placed on top during his final days in office – massive pay increases for state employees and even potential pay increases for state lawmakers.

After months of negotiations, and staged walkouts, the Washington Federation of State Employees ratified a new contract that will cost the state $1.376 billion between 2025-2027, and almost $3 billion between 2027-2020. The worst part, regardless of Washington’s financial health two and four years from now, the state is locked into that contract. Inslee’s agreement to the contract is a clever final act, as well as a desperate ploy to preserve his legacy— give pay raises to all his employees, and let someone else foot the bill.

To afford these increases, Todd Myers, the VP of Research for the Washington Policy Center questioned the warped priorities of those supporting the pay increases. Todd debated House Majority Leader, Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (D-West Seattle) on this issue, and later stated, “Joe threatens to cut salmon recovery, roads, and K-12, but promises to protect $1.3 billion in pay raises for state employees.”

The governor has time and again proven to be irresponsible with taxpayer money. Let’s look at a huge portion of state spending as an example: education. While the state has doubled education spending over the past decade, the benefits haven’t reached students. Instead, the bulk of new funding went toward hiring non-teaching staff. Liv Finne of the Washington Policy Center reported on the state data:

• Teaching staff increased by 25%
• The number of principals grew by 42%
• Other administrative positions rose by 54%
• Non-teaching staff ballooned by 66%

80% of school operating budgets are spent on salaries and benefits for staff. Thus, every new administrative or non-teaching position further squeezes classroom resources, leaving students and teachers with fewer resources.

Similarly, climate initiatives are delivering only modest environmental benefits at great cost. Todd Myers of the Washington Policy Center aptly noted:

 “We are spending money on things that don’t yield any or very tiny environmental benefits for very high costs. Subsidizing electric vehicles for people who are wealthy yields tiny environmental benefits for very high cost… There’s lots of things that we can do that maximize environmental benefit. So great— target the spending. We can even spend state money. But make sure that we get what we’re paid for, not prioritizing it based on politics.”

And to top it all off, lawmakers are also discussing pay hikes for themselves. At a time when Washingtonians are still suffering from inflation and cost of living increases that are outpacing pay increases, its pretty disconcerting to see some lawmakers consider patting themselves on the back in such a manner.

Inslee’s final act is clear: reward bureaucracy, send the bill to taxpayers, and let someone else clean up the mess. The people of Washington deserve better than endless cycles of spending, , higher taxes with little to show for it. The time has come to put taxpayers first—because unlike state budgets, household budgets don’t have the luxury of forcing others to foot their bills.