Inheriting a $16 billion budget shortfall was not the way I wanted to start as governor,” Bob Ferguson said Tuesday.

But Ferguson also didn’t deny the likely impact on most Washington residents from the $9 billion package, or on the business community from the slew of new revenue streams that

Gov. Bob Ferguson repeatedly said he would look for budget savings and efficiencies before agreeing to raise taxes on Washingtonians, but on Tuesday – the deadline for doing so – he signed Washington state’s nearly $78 billion,