As the Washington State Legislature entered its even-year, short 60-day session, the time has come for our lawmakers to distinguish themselves as leaders and not simply an egotistical mob bent on self-preservation.

But that does not mean they should behave as our editorial cartoon suggested last week, creating a spending tsunami. Governor Christine Gregoire once suggested that some of the current budget surplus be saved for the inevitable rainy day, but then she put forth a long list of new spending proposals.

It is always a danger when legislators find they have some money to spend, but the trick here is to spend it wisely and with the hard-working taxpayer in mind.

All members of the Legislature in the city of Seattle are Democrats, but we don't believe all of them are ready to spend the state into a hole. Both of our West Seattle state representatives are also on the House Appropriations Committee where they can survey and make logical decisions on what should be spent and what should be put aside as unnecessary or unimportant.

Rep. Eileen Cody focuses mainly on health care because she is a registered nurse and chairs the House Health Care Committee. Hers is an important task, but she should use her seat on Appropriations to limit expenses, as should Rep. Joe McDermott, who focuses much of his energy on a wide range of legislation.

As noted in Tim St. Clair's story on Page One, West Seattle State Sen. Erik Poulsen is a leader on environmental matters. He is chair of that committee and even those opposed to his views on the subject give him high marks. "He does not take himself too seriously in an environment where most people take themselves seriously," says a lobbyist for the Washington Environmental Council.

Again this year, this newspaper will publish weekly lists of how our lawmakers vote during this abbreviated session. But much goes on behind the scenes and we urge our legislators must keep us advised. This newspaper stands ready to publish objective reports by and from legislators.