Rep. Travis Couture warns Democrats’ $80 billion budget puts Washington at risk
House Republican Budget Leader Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn, warns that Democrats’ massive $80 billion budget has the state spending more than it will bring in, leaving taxpayers on the hook. He says the budget is built on shaky ground, relying on an unconstitutional income tax and draining reserves to nearly the lowest in the nation to make the math work. Even with that massive spending, Couture says Democrats still slashed critical services people depend on, including health care, schools, and child care, while doing nothing to make things more affordable.
Couture says there was a better option: the Affordability First budget framework that House Republicans proposed that didn’t raise taxes, prioritized spending, and balanced the books by identifying billions in bloat and waste while protecting core programs and services, but Democrats chose a different path and left Republicans out of most of the budget process. Couture says the result is a budget that focuses on the wrong priorities, grows government, makes things more expensive, and puts the state at risk.
