Talkin' on (Budget) Sunshine
Posted by Brett Davis - January 26, 2010
Representative Gary Alexander extended an invitation to the Evergreen Freedom Foundation to testify on HB 2872, the Budget Sunshine Act, which requires a 72-hour waiting period before final adoption of the budget. So, yesterday afternoon I made my way to the House Ways & Means Committee to offer the Freedom Foundation’s perspective on the effects of this proposed legislation. You can read what I had to say here.
My testimony even warranted a mention in The Capitol Record, which was a pleasant surprise to me, given that it was my first time testifying.
Anyway, here’s a little background on budget transparency efforts in Washington state: In January 2007, the Freedom Foundation created model legislation that would require a 72-hour budget timeout before hearings or votes on revenue or appropriations bills could occur. That model legislation has been adopted by the American Legislative Exchange Council. Also in 2007, Representative Alexander introduced a bill that would create a five-day period before the budget could be voted on after its introduction, and several times since has introduced some sort of budget timeout legislation.
You know what a different Alexander—as in Alexander Pope—said in his An Essay on Man, “Hope springs eternal...” Of course, here in Washington state, it’s not unusual to hope for sunshine.
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