Kagi pleased that Legislature could compromise

State Rep. Ruth Kagi
D-32

By Evan Smith

Democratic State Rep. Ruth Kagi says that she appreciates that Washington’s legislature averted an end-of-June government shutdown, something that other states didn’t accomplish.

She noted last week that the new budget increases state support for schools with money coming from a different source than she wanted.

“We faced a Herculean task, developing a new policy framework for fully funding our public schools and a revenue package to fund it,” she said. 

“Yes it took a very long time with a process that was not transparent and produced an unacceptably late set of bills but we reached resolution, which was not the case in 11 other states.

“I supported the progressive revenue package that the House proposed and am disappointed that property taxes are the primary funding source. Having said that, the House, Senate and governor compromised 

"The property tax is less than a third of what was originally proposed by the Senate, and we were able to pass three relatively small but important loophole closures.

“As I read about the eleven states that did not pass a budget by June 30 and the three that shut down state governments, it makes me all the more appreciative of the work done to find a solution, not stop the trains.”

She added that she believes this was an exceptional year, and legislators will negotiate budgets in the future long before the end of the fiscal year.

Kagi represents the 32nd Legislative District, including Shoreline, part of northwest Seattle, Woodway and nearby unincorporated areas of Snohomish County, south Edmonds, Lynnwood and part of Mountlake Terrace.

Evan Smith can be reached at schsmith@frontier.com.