Perhaps the biggest act of symbolism in the House and Senate budgets is a plan to mothball or sell off the state airplanes.

The governor, State Patrol, Department of Natural Resources, prison department and other agencies have access to two King Air craft that are maintained and flown by the patrol. The hangar is at the little Olympia Airport south of town. The de-planing idea, popular in many states during recessions, is supposed to save $1.7 million, reports The Olympian, which ran a front page photo of a plane that suddenly is viewed by some as a symbol of excess or dispensible frill.  The Senate wants to get rid of the planes and use charter service when needed; the House would mothball the aircraft during the upcoming biennium… 

The patrol is quoted as saying the 7- and 8-seat King Airs are actually cheaper than relying on commercial and charter flights. The governor uses the plane as a time-saving and secure way to tour flood zones and forest fires and to travel to remote parts of the sprawling state, like, say, Omak, Friday Harbor or Clarkston. The patrol can dispatch the SWAT team statewide and quickly.

So far, the guv hasn’t publicly spoken against the ditch-the-plane plan, given the presumed popularity of the proposal.  It’s buried in a thick budget document and is not a separate vote for lawmakers unless some brave soul tries to amend it out. But Gregoire does have a veto pen, so we’ll see.  

Using your comment button, what’s your advice for her?