As a business man, I am committed to responsible state spending and making sure we get a return on the investment of your tax dollars.

With unemployment on the rise and a threat of troubling economic times, I’ll work to strengthen our business climate and build an atmosphere in Washington where companies want to create jobs.

At this time in our state, we can’t ask people or businesses for more of what they don’t have: money.

Businesses are being forced out of our state because of high taxes and overregulation. Chief Executive Magazine ranks Washington’s business climate 30 th best. We can do better.

Add to that the $3.2 billion deficit we now face in Washington - the biggest in our state’s history.

Often times, Olympia looks to business to bear the burden of higher taxes so that they can increase spending. This is the wrong approach, and needs to change.

As state senator in 2003, I chaired the committee that wrote the state budget. Despite facing a multibillion-dollar deficit, I wrote a budget that increased spending on education and other essential services, and protected our most vulnerable citizens.

And I solved this deficit without raising taxes.

As governor I will balance the budget without raising taxes and still protect our vulnerable citizens and essential services.

Addressing the Deficit

• I will not expect taxpayers to foot the bill for Christine Gregoire’s $8 billion increase in state spending. 

• Here are some specific measures we’ll take to begin addressing the deficit:

• A Constiutional Ammendment reinstating spending limits: Voters approved these limits in 1993, but the legislature has ignored them and increased spending. As governor, I’ll stiffen these limits to curb out-of-control spending.

• Freeze hiring and discretionary spending: Governor Gregoire ballooned state hiring by 8,000 employees over four years. I will implement a detailed , reasonable freeze on hiring and certain expenditures.

• Reduce the size and spending of the governor’s office: Governor Gregoire increased spending by 85% on her own office. Fiscal leadership starts at the top. I’ll start by reducing spending on the governor’s office by at least 10% in the next budget.

• I will not support a state income tax like Gregoire does – not now, not ever.

• Once we have solved this deficit, I will look to return money to taxpayers whenever possible by cutting taxes.

Improving the Economy

• Business is the number one creator of jobs. I will make Washington state into an entrepreneurial state, because small businesses with fewer than 50 employees account for 49 percent of Washington’s non-government workforce.

• Alarmingly, Washington has one of the  highest small business failure rates in the nation.

• I will work to create an atmosphere where businesses succeed. When we have balanced the state’s $3.2 billion deficit, I will make cuts and reforms to the taxes that are chasing businesses out of our state like the Death Tax and the B&O tax.

• Government’s job is to serve the people, and I will infuse an attitude of customer service into state agencies. The directors of all of the agencies under a Rossi Administration – Labor and Industries, Department of Ecology, and others – will know that it is their job to help people and businesses be successful.

• I will direct state government to review policies and regulations placed on business, and we will eliminate unnecessary and over-burdensome regulations that make companies not want to do business here.