MOSES LAKE - In just a few weeks District 13 Rep. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, will join state legislators in Olympia to discuss Washington's $2 billion funding gap.

The Legislature follows up the Nov. 28 special budget session with the 2012 regular session Jan. 9, and both are likely to bring some financial pain, Warnick said Tuesday in Moses Lake.

"The decisions we'll be making are going to be tough on some folks, there's just no getting around that," she said.

Warnick said she'll work toward a budget fix by "getting government out of the way of the private sector," cutting growth management regulations and offering building permits in a more timely manner.

"I hear every day of companies, if they want to build, the permit process is extremely slow," she said. "I think that we could streamline that."

Other possible solutions on her list include a moratorium on further rule making in regards to businesses and taking another look at the state's renewable energy regulations and definitions.

Along with most of her fellow house Republicans, Warnick opposes the Democrats' notion that revenue increases could provide a viable way out of the money pit, and remarked that voters have repeatedly rejected the idea of new taxes or tolls.

"I think the discussion about a revenue or a package tax package is going to be a contentious one," she said. "(A tax increase) is on the table, but whether (Republicans) would consider it, whether we would vote for it, I can't say. I know I wouldn't unless we exhausted all other options and that would include regulation reform for our private sector. I have not heard of a single Republican in the house that would vote for that."

Warnick expressed concern about the possibility of putting a revenue package to a vote in February or March, saying the timing of such a request could coincide with and negatively affect the chances of any levy or bond measures planned by school districts.

In her position on the Higher Education Committee, Warnick said she's attended several "listening sessions" over the past few months to see what the state's universities, community colleges and trade schools are doing to "become meaner and leaner" in their practices.

Last year the Legislature gave colleges more leeway to offset state cuts by raising tuition rates, but Warnick said 2012 still promises a tough road for higher education. She pointed to Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake, which recently declared a fiscal emergency to allow possible renegotiation of employee contracts.

On the plus side, Warnick said there are more than 60,000 unfilled, skilled private sector jobs in Washington, positions she suggested could be filled via partnerships between colleges and companies. She again highlighted Big Bend, which has worked with local industries on training workers to use specialized equipment.

Warnick, who is the ranking Republican on the House Capital Budget Committee, said during the regular session she'll continue advocating for better prioritization of capital projects in light of reduced funding. "With the (revenue) forecast downturn we may have to pull back some of the funding on those projects that have not started," she said; adding there are no specific projects on the chopping block at this time.

Other capital projects may be passed over because they require local or federal matching funds that never materialize, she said.

When asked what agencies should be first in line for cuts, Warnick said the Department of Ecology has received more funding from the state this budget cycle than last and should be reduced accordingly.

Other areas of the budget should be left alone, she said, including levy equalization funding for K-12 schools and state funding to critical access hospitals for treating medicaid patients.

"I feel like rural areas are being targeted, not only through our schools but also through our health care access," she said. "We've got to have some fairness to those issues."