The words ‘transparency’ and ‘government’ are thrown around a lot by politicians. But actions speak louder than words.
A fundamental tenant of our great country is that government represents the people. Yet, time and time again, our government officials believe they know best. And each time a policy is formed behind closed doors without majority consent, a little bit of your individual freedom is lost.
Apparently, government thinks it knows best how to spend millions of Washingtonians’ tax dollars without their knowledge and without the involvement of the Legislature.
A state collective bargaining law established in 2002 allows the sitting Governor to conduct private negotiations with labor unions. Gov. Gregoire is currently hammering out negotiations with state labor unions. Next they’ll decide health care benefits. These talks are underway as the October 1 deadline to submit the agreement to the Office of Financial Management is right around the corner. The agreements will be used to produce the state’s next two-year budget plan—a plan the next Governor will inherit.
Because they are such a large part of any government budget, labor costs should be negotiated publicly and the Legislature must be able to assert its rulemaking authority and represent its constituents.
Because unions are, by design, beholden to their members and not taxpayers, the Legislature should have authority over the costs related to union labor, just like they do in other state budget concerns.
