In response to the recent Ralph Nichols editorial that began with a quote suggesting citizens’ liberty and property are in jeopardy when the Legislature is in session, I would offer this quote from Thomas Jefferson:

"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough, the remedy is not to take it from them but to inform their discretion."

I think all of us should strive to inform, and not to inflame the people.

To that end, I would like to point out that none of the budgets now before the Legislature either call for a tax or "devour most of the state’s $1.6 billion surplus." Just the opposite. We will be preserving most of the surplus -- about $950 million -- and saving it for a rainy day.

We will spend a portion of the surplus dealing with the reality that more students are attending our schools and health care costs are rising for the elderly, the poor and state employees, as they are for everybody.

In addition, we will be making what I believe are prudent investments in such things as preparing for a pandemic flu outbreak, creating new bio-fuel energy sources and helping more students pass the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL).

The cost of better preparing our children to graduate from high school ready for college or work, creating a way to achieve energy independence and preparing for a pandemic that could kill thousands of Washington residents and hobble our economy pales in comparison to the potential cost of doing nothing.

Finally, I think we should bury this emerging urban myth that Medicaid pays for sex change operations. It does not. For the low-income people who qualify for this state-federal program, the state is obligated by federal law to pay only for what is "medically necessary."

Sen. Karen Keiser

Des Moines