Every election cycle we send the same representatives back to Olympia who, it can be accurately predicted, will increase the budget, proclaim there is a budget deficit and find a way to raise taxes.

This year two of our incumbent representatives voted to suspend the voter initiative that required a two-thirds vote to increase taxes or ask the voters for their consent. One incumbent received cover from the Senate because they didn’t need the vote. They all then voted for the increased budget that cut millions from education funding while claiming to be the “champions of education.” To cover the short fall they increased taxes by $800 million on small business and the poorest of our citizens.

Why do they have a budget problem? Maybe it is because they raised the budget by $4 billion from the previous budget period. Maybe it is because they increased the budget by 63 percent over the past 10 years.

Next year they predict a $4.5 billion short fall. Others predict it will be $9 billion. Want to guess who is right? The state auditor has recommended over $3 billion in efficiency improvements that can be made. The incumbent legislators have refused to act. We can’t send the same people who caused this back to Olympia and expect they will fix it. We need to clean house – remove all of them. This year when we vote we must stop voting for the candidates we are comfortable with. We need a divorce.

Kathy Meyer

Covington