Gov. Chris Gregoire was first elected in 2004.

    Perhaps the most notable aspect of her first term in leading our state is that she oversaw an increase in state spending by $8 billion. Spending rose 31 percent, the largest percentage increase in 16 years.

    Union members fared well during this time, with state contributions to pay and benefits for teachers rising 29 percent in Gov. Gregoire’s first four years in office. She added about 6,100 more state workers. Pay raises were the norm.

    There is a point when the state needs to be more realistic in its spending. Unfortunately, under Gov. Gregoire, that time has come and gone. She was warned, however, that the rise in spending would cause future problems.

    Republicans, most notably her opponent in the race for governor — Dino Rossi — on the eve of the November 2008 general election, said Gov. Gregoire was spending more than the state could afford.

    Gov. Gregoire won reelection. Then we ran into the recession. The state then faced a $7 billion budget deficit as the Legislature convened in January of 2009. That number eventually rose to a $9 billion deficit for the two-year budget, which was filled with one-time fixes, a load of federal stimulus money and spending cuts.

    Now the budget, in its second  year, is facing another deficit, this one pegged at about $1.2 billion.

    We remind all that Gov. Gregoire said just before winning her second term for governor: “I said it four years ago, I’ll say it again now: The last thing you want to do is go for taxes when you’ve got an economic downturn.”

    We maintain, with 14.7 percent of the state’s labor force unemployed or underemployed, we are indeed in an “economic downturn.”

    Yet Gov. Gregoire is paving the way for the state’s Democrat-controlled Legislature to raise taxes when it gathers in Olympia in January.

    Gov. Gregoire said, “At some point the people, I assume, don’t want us to take any more cuts.”

    Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, jumped in, writing in her blog: “Gov. Gregoire made news this week when she did not rule out taxes as a partial budget fix in 2010.”

    Republican leaders answered with an opposite view. Rep. Gary Alexander, R-Olympia, said “Before we talk of tax increases we need to talk about downsizing government.” Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, said “You can’t take more from people who have less.”

    The people and businesses of Washington state have had to adjust their spending. We’ve all had to make thrift a way of life. It is high time the state joined us. Raising taxes is indeed the wrong thing to do during an economic downturn.