booth gardner - Washington Secretary of State

unpleasantries. “…[T]hey just piss at each other,” the governor said, revealing his
frustration. Hoping a cooling-off period would break the logjam and that the next revenue
report would be rosier, Gardner decided to postpone a special session until June. He
admitted wearily that he’d been idealistically naïve to “really believe” that the executive
branch and the Legislature could set aside distrust and egos and just “work closely together
and build a consensus – do what’s right.” His favorite song had been the hit inspired by the
schmaltzy jingle for his beverage of choice, Coca-Cola, “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing
in Perfect Harmony.” Reaching for something stronger, he said he was a fast learner and
observed that “a lot of what Dan Evans accomplished was in his second term.”
In the meantime, there was progress on several fronts. Gardner signed an
ambitious $552 million construction budget that would finance new buildings and
remodeling projects at schools, colleges, prisons, parks and hatcheries. He also signed
several environmental bills, including measures to expedite a comprehensive plan to clean
up Puget Sound and give workers information about hazardous materials. Other bills
authorized home schooling and returned state civil service to a seniority-based system.
With mixed emotions he signed a dozen “educational excellence” bills, well aware that the
budget crisis could leave many of them unfunded. Notably, the push for standards-based
education, a hallmark of his eight years as governor, began with House Bill 141, which
required achievement tests for all high school sophomores, and Senate Bill 4140, which
boosted high school graduation requirements. Another bill he signed into law that day,
May 20, 1985, launched a program of free preschool for underprivileged children.
After some horse-trading by Gardner before the gavels dropped, the special session
lasted only two days. The lawmakers approved his request for a sales tax deferral to help lure
new industry and authorized bonds for new schools and other state construction projects but
failed to approve a plan to clean up Puget Sound and killed a House-passed plan to raise $56.5
million by hiking cigarette taxes. Teachers and other state employees, including the troopers,
got no raises. Only $173 million was left in reserves. Flanked by Speaker Ehlers and Senate
Majority Leader Bottiger, the governor gave the special session an A. Skeptical reporters
noted that the water quality legislation, one of his top priorities, had gone down the drain.
“OK,” he said, “an A-minus – I’m an easy grader.” Reminded that he had asked for a rainy-day
reserve of $200 million to $300 million, the grade deflation continued. “I guess I’ll give them
a B,” he said with a shrug. The Tacoma News Tribune gave them an A for speed and C for
performance. The Seattle Times gave both the governor and the legislators an F, saying their
failure to finance a Puget Sound cleanup program was “inexcusable.” Senate Republicans took
their lumps for rejecting a compromise effort to launch some sort of cleanup program.
* * *
One of the highlights of the administration’s first year came that summer when
the state landed a $200 million semiconductor plant for Clark County. RCA-Sharp, a U.S.-
Japanese joint venture, planned an initial hire of 600 workers. The average salary, Gardner
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