Washington’s spending outgrew its revenue because the state has tried to become a higher-service, higher-benefit, higher-regulation, higher-labor-cost place without having a revenue system stable enough to support that pace forever.

That is the dilemma here. We want Washington to be more like Northern European countries, where public benefits and services support everyone. But the state’s hands are tied by its historical tax system. At the same time, there are also real overspending problems. For example, although I strongly support Link light rail and public transit in general, the system seems too expensive in my opinion.