KPLU Local News
(2010-03-04)
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People with umbrellas walk past the sundial at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash., on a rainy first day of the 2010 Legislative Session.
(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
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It was kind of a funny moment when Washington Governor Chris Gregoire recently signed legislation to suspend Washington's two-thirds requirement for tax hikes. The man behind the super-majority rule, anti-tax initiative guru Tim Eyman, stood beside the governor holding his nose and making a thumbs-down sign - until the Governor scolded him.
Chris Gregoire: "Now you must behave here."
Tim Eyman: "I am behaving. This is my self-controlled version."
But make no mistake, Washington residents weren't laughing. A new poll by Portland-based DHM Research shows a near two-thirds of respondents - 64-percent - do not agree with the decision by majority Democrats in Olympia to suspend the two-thirds obstacle to raising taxes. Roy Goninan participated in the survey. He's a stay-at-home dad in Spanaway, Washington who makes four-wheel bicycles out of PVC pipe for kids with seizure disorders. He's furious at lawmakers and the governor for undoing the voter-approved two-thirds requirement.
Roy Goninan: "We're trying to teach our kids how to be respectful. But it's getting very hard to be respectful towards any kind of government official when they can't hear the wishes of the people and do what they're asked."
Goninan voted for President Obama, but says he's neither a Democrat nor a Republican. He calls himself a fence-sitter. If you'd asked him a few years ago about Washington state government, he would have said they're "trying" down in Olympia. Not anymore. He thinks Democrats are defaulting to taxes too quickly and haven't done enough to cut the fat out of state government.
Roy Goninan: "I see where I'm having to cut back drastically for myself. I mean literally. Cut back cable, everything, you name it, everything. But they're demanding that we give more, more."
Goninan is typical of the 12-hundred Northwesterners across the region surveyed. Pollster Adam Davis says voter consternation is at a 30-year high - driven in large part by the state of the economy.
Adam Davis: "Plus they see what's going on in Washington, D.C. They see what's going on in Olympia and in Salem, in Boise. And there's great upset. We've never seen the negativity towards government at any level higher than it is now."
That mostly comes across in the personal comments people made to the pollsters. But the numbers also tell a story. Forty-eight percent of those polled believe their state is headed in the wrong direction. Compare that to 36-percent who say things are going in the right direction. Fifty-six percent say their state spends too much on services that aren't top priorities. The margin of error for the region-wide poll is two-point-eight percent. Again, pollster Adam Davis.
Adam Davis: "People are very concerned about government performance at this point in time. They do not feel they are getting a value for the tax money that they're paying. They continue to feel that there's a lot of waste in government."
The people surveyed tell us their top priorities for state government are, in this order: public education, public safety, employment and training programs, health and mental health, children's services and state highways. Meanwhile, nearly 60-percent don't think their state's business climate is favorable enough. But not everyone is so gloomy.
Art Shotwell: "I guess I'm a bit of an optimistic person. I don't see us as bad off as we were a year ago or six months ago."
Art Shotwell is a web designer in Anacortes, Washington - gateway to the San Juan Islands. Unemployment in his county is nearly 12-percent, but Shotwell is hopeful the worst has passed. And he doesn't begrudge Democrats in Olympia suspending the two-thirds requirement for tax hikes.
Art Shotwell: "I hate to tie the legislature's hands when it comes to doing legislation and that includes doing budgeting. I think budgets need to change from year and I think state legislators, individually, need some flexibility. And sometimes you need to go up and sometimes you need to go down in taxes."
Shotwell thinks without some new taxes, cuts in state spending will go too deep. He worries especially about state funding for local school districts. But from the looks of our survey, Shotwell is an outlier. In the end, it appears voter mistrust of government is running high and elected leaders will likely feel the wrath of voters come November. I'm Austin Jenkins in Olympia.
For More Information:
Northwest Health Foundation's "Northwest OpinionScape" Survey from DHM Research, Portland, OR.
© Copyright 2012, N3
