Rainy Day Fund Use Hotly Debated

It could be a contentious day in the state Senate as Democrats plan to dip into the state's rainy day fund using their simple majority. Ranking minority member on the Senate Ways and Means Committee, John Braun says with a huge surplus, he sees no reason to raid our state’s rainy day fund.

"This should have been the easiest budget in the past 10 years. We should have been in and out and done the things that were required to take care of voters in the state of Washington and we could have been finished easily ahead of time and instead of doing that we're finding ways to take money out of the state's savings account because $2.5 billion isn't enough."

Republicans say this is in violation of the state constitution that requires a 60 percent vote to draw down from our state savings account.

Braun noted, "This sham will result in over $700 million in additional revenue for them to spend on free stuff that they can give away to their supporters."

Braun says any surplus money should be put away in case of an economic downtown or saved to pay for emergencies like forest fires or other natural disasters.