Story by Rodger Nichols for Gorge Country Media
Washington State Representative Kevin Waters, whose 17th district stretches from Washougal to Goldendale, delivered a pessimistic prediction yesterday as he welcomed a rare in-person meeting of the Gorge Commission in Carson. First he mentioned the problems that surfaced at this year’s legislative session in Olympia
“The budget writers are coming around and they’re having a little bit of freak out. This year was a full on mental, it was tremble. I don’t know how else to put it. We saw things get cut. We saw things that were sacred that have been thrown out.”
The 2027 session, he said, looks to be much worse.
“Speaker 1 : “I was just at a conference last week with a number of senior leaders on the D side and on the R side. We’re probably going into a $9 billion deficit the second we walk on that house floor next year. Where the cuts are going to come from. I have no idea. There’s even talk that we could be going back this summer to try to fix some budget issues.”
Economists say there are multiple reasons for the state’s looming budget shortfall. Revenue projections have fallen due to a slump in home sales. Inflation has significantly increased the cost of maintaining current services at the same time as demand for social services, health care and education has ramped up. And one-time pandemic-era funding as expired, leaving the state general fund to cover costs for programs that were previously supported by federal dollars.