Sunday the Seattle Times editorial board released a series of reforms necessary to guide the state back to a sustainable budget. It’s a smart list, including a number of ideas that we have written about in the Thrive Washington series and in various WRC policy briefs.

As important, the editorial examines the growing gap between available revenues and projected spending. This is an issue framed early by Sen. Jim Kastama (D – Puyallup) in an informative video. The WRC has taken a look at the trend lines, and using information from the state budget office, updated the information. The trends are, as Kastama noted, alarming. The Times editorial includes our graph.

When a trend cannot continue, goes Stein’s law, it must come to an end. Sooner, rather than later, we hope.