Governor Chris Gregoire has put together a bipartisan panel to help her figure out  how to deal with the latest budget shortfall. In the biennium ending in 2013, the state already faces a $3 billion budget gap. In the last budget cycle, the state patched a $12 billion gap primarily by making cuts; just $755 million was new revenue.

Rather than deliberating and issuing a blue-ribbon study, the panelists will be involved throughout the entire budget process—attending some of the four public forums the Office of Financial Management is holding across the state this month; weighing in during the now-standard "priorities of government" process that agencies go through as they scrutinize state services; and sitting in whenever possible as the governor's staff comes up with the budget.

One of the panelists is Remy Trupin, the director of a progressive econ think tank, the Washington Budget & Policy Center. Trupin issued a statement about being tapped for the panel in which he definitely plays his (left) hand.

In addition to decrying the counterproductive cut-cut-cut solution of the last biennium (as he argues: "cutting back on health care, for instance, would only bring people to emergency rooms with more costly problems,") check out some of his bullet points:

We should use this as an opportunity to think about the long-term structural challenge exacerbated by the recession -- our revenue structure doesn’t support the things people care about in our state budget.

Interpretation: Sales tax doesn't work. Let's go with an income tax because you like government services, you anti-tax whiners.

One fundamental reform that should be considered is justifying millions of dollars in tax breaks. These exemptions and preferences now do not receive the same scrutiny in the budget process as other expenditures and are often allowed to stay on the books ad-infinitim.

Interpretation: There are billions in corporate loopholes. Close them.

During this year's budget crisis, PubliCola sat down with Trupin, as well as his conservative counterpart at the Washington Policy Center, Paul Guppy, to thrash through the state's budget issues.

Other members of the governor's panel include Jason Mercier from Guppy's Washington Policy Center; the Democratic and Republican leaders of both the state House and Senate caucuses; Rick Bender from the Washington State Labor Council; Don Brunell of the Washington Association of Business; SEIU leader David Rolf; Vulcan's Senior Director of Corporate Communications Lyn Tangen; Washington Association of Cities head Mike McCarty; Don Pierce from the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs; and Rodney Brown from the Washington Environmental Council.