We don’t know if Gov. Gregoire is right to want to cut 150 state boards and commissions to help balance the budget. But we do know that it probably can’t hurt.
The state has a total of 470 boards and commissions, many of them filled by volunteers who get paid mileage and a per-deim pay for their work. Gregoire’s trim could save the state $15 million over the next two years, according to the Office of Financial Management.
That’s real money and a real need as the state faces at least a $6 billion shortfall over the next two years.
Some boards undoubtedly get formed when the state proposes some law or change and then forms an advisory group to make sure that people’s toes don’t get stepped on in the process of implementing something new.
In reality it’s likely a sop to a local group to make them feel important while in fact providing little, if any, benefit.
In good times, it’s easy to spend money – too easy. Those times are over for now and the state has no business maintaining anything but the most important – and needed – functions. If that doesn’t include some specialty boards and commissions, so be it.
It’s no longer “business as usual” in our state, nation, or even our own homes. What was doable a year ago – or even last month – no longer is relevant. Whacking boards and commissions to save $15 million isn’t the answer to our state’s financial crisis. But, it’s start. Let’s hope it wont’ be the last.
Army wrong
The death of a 16-year-old civilian girl at Fort Lewis is shocking, not only because of her death, but also for the apparent lack of control over who gets on the closed base.
The girl who died, and another who is now recovering, were found passed out in the barracks at Fort Lewis recently. People now say there has been a long history of underage girls flocking to the base to party with soldiers. Seems like there’s wrong, and then there’s Army wrong.
Get ready for a bumpy ride
If you’re a passenger on Metro Transit, get ready for a bumpy ride, particularly here in the suburbs. The agency, which gets 60 percent of its operating revenue from a share of the sales tax, says revenues in 2010 are expected to be $100 million, or nearly 20 percent, less than were forecast for that year in late 2007. That loss is the equivalent of 800,000 to 1 million hours of bus service. Since Seattle historically has received most of Metro’s service hours, it’s likely that any cutbacks will hit here most.
Hope for homeowners
President Barack Obama has unveiled a $75 billion plan to keep as many as 9 million Americans from losing their homes to foreclosure. He took pains to say that the bailout will not help those who took risky bets by buying homes to sell them, not live in them or signed on for loans they knew they could not afford. Let’s hope.
