Article by Erik Smith. Published on Thursday, June 11, 2011 EST.

Promises to Restore Share of Spending That Went to Education – Might Step on a Few Toes in the Process

Attorney General Rob McKenna announces his campaign for governor.

By Erik Smith

Staff writer/ Washington State Wire

BELLEVUE, June 9.—Attorney General Rob McKenna kicked off his campaign for governor Wednesday, vowing to put the state’s money on education once the economy rebounds and tax revenue begins flowing again.

            And so the 2012 campaign is off and running, as the first gubernatorial candidate makes a strong opening move. Republican McKenna has won two statewide races in a state that tilts to the Democrats, the last time outscoring even President Barack Obama by two percentage points. His supporters have been laying the groundwork for months, McKenna has $800,000 in the bank already, and Republicans are saying he may be the candidate who can break the party’s 26-year losing streak in efforts to win the state’s highest office.

            Speaking at Sammamish High School in Bellevue, where his political career started as student body president, McKenna outlined a vision for state government in which the spending priorities are the same as when he entered college in 1980. Fifty-one percent for K-12 education, 16 percent for higher education – not the 49 percent combined they receive today.

            “Washington state needs a new direction. That’s why I’m running for governor,” he said.

            Pledges Leaner Government

            McKenna appeared before a cheering throng of 450 at the school, delivering a speech 41 minutes long, chock full of crowd-pleasing red-meat lines. But it also outlined a thoughtful analysis of where he believes the state has gone wrong over the last three decades, by overpromising when times are good and turning to tax increases when the economy turns sour.

“The bottom line is that we need a governor who recognizes the most basic job even flipping burgers is better than the most elaborate social program,” he said. “And we need a governor who understands these jobs are going to be created by entrepreneurs, by risktakers, by business owners and creators, not by debt-financed stimulus programs.

“We need a governor who believes the foundation for growth and economic prosperity is our education system, and we can’t make our education system stronger by relying on weak outdated policies that are defended by special interests that have dictated the agenda for decades.

“And I believe that you deserve a governor who will bring us a leaner, better-run, more cost effective state government that doesn’t demand endless tax increases for bringing results to the bosses, you the taxpayers.”

            No Question of Support

Odds are it wouldn’t have mattered what McKenna said – Republicans would have cheered it anyway. They have been awaiting McKenna’s entry into the race with such enthusiasm that no other Republican candidate has bothered even forming an exploratory committee. King County Congressman Dave Reichert, the only other possible candidate even mentioned in the same breath, cleared the way earlier in the day when he announced his endorsement of McKenna.

Still to come are the announcements on the Democratic side. Gov. Christine Gregoire has not been actively raising for a third-term campaign, and most speculation has centered on Congressman Jay Inslee.

State Rep. Kevin Parker, R-Spokane, who introduced McKenna onstage, said Republicans have been waiting years for a candidate this strong. “Washington state has not had a Republican governor since I was 11 years old,” he said. “I think the state is ripe for a change. I think his vision matches the people’s desires, and I think he’s got the apparatus and breadth and depth of support. I think his chances are very, very good.”

One sign of that: The state Labor Council held a news conference earlier in the day to denounce McKenna even before the announcement was made. Labor Council President Jeff Johnson warned that McKenna is a “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” pointing to stands he has taken as attorney general on federal health care reform legislation and the minimum wage. Johnson said he believed McKenna will not support collective bargaining rights for unionized workers.

Said McKenna supporter Luke Esser, a former McKenna staffer and former Republican Party chair, “It shows how the concerned and worried they are, and they are right to be concerned and worried. So Rob should wear it as a badge of honor that the Democrats and so many liberal groups are terrified at the prospect of his election.”

            Would Change Trajectory

It’s easy to see what has happened to the state if you take the long-term view, McKenna said. Public employee unions demanded a bigger share of the pie and health care costs began eating the state alive. Some of McKenna’s prescriptions are certain to bring conflict: He said that when the economy rebounds the state can’t afford costly automatic increases in salaries and benefits ever year. And during a news conference after the speech, McKenna said that while he supports the right of unions to collectively bargain, he opposes the 2003 legislation that takes salary and benefit decisions out of the Legislature’s hands.

“[Lawmakers] have an up or down vote on whatever is presented to them by the governor’s labor office, and what that has done is that it has meant that spending on collective-bargaining contracts, on the salaries, wages and benefits, goes to the front of the line ahead of every other kind of state spending.”

Spending in those areas skyrocketed between 1998 and 2008, just before recession hit, he said. Salaries rose at an average rate of 5 percent a year, benefits by 9 percent, and the number of state employees increased 13 percent. “That’s one of the reasons that we don’t have enough money for education and higher education,” he said.

Changing those trends will mean conflict, he acknowledged. But McKenna said it can be done gently, without layoffs. As the economy begins to recover, it will generate an additional $4 billion in tax revenue for the state over the next two years. That growth will likely continue in future biennia. It’s a matter of directing that new money to the programs the state values the most.

            “Does this mean taking on entrenched special interests who don’t want to change the status quo? Of course it does. You have to be willing to take on any special interest that is committed to laying down tracks to defend the status quo. But is a lot easier to do that when you don’t owe your political existence to those same special interests.”

Can Make a Difference

McKenna said he believes he can make a difference.

            “We’ve seen it happen before, with governors like Dan Evans who made a tremendous difference in the state, bringing the state to a position of national prominence for innovation and productivity and effectiveness. I know you don’t get where you want to go if you don’t have the vision and leadership. We have a complex government. There are a lot of checks and balances, so one person can’t do it all, and shouldn’t be expected to do it all.

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