In the first week of the 2010 legislative session, one of the few points of bipartisan agreement has been the importance of creating jobs. Well for all the folks in Olympia, here’s an idea: don’t cut another $2.6 billion in state programs.

A new report released by the Economic Opportunity Institute in Seattle shows that an all-cuts budget would result in a loss of 33,600 more public and private sector jobs in Washington State. For those of you following along at home, that’s a lot.

But don’t despair: they also found that using a combination of new revenue and federal aid to fill the state’s budget gap would preserve most or all of these jobs.

The analysis was done by Dr. Marilyn Watkins based on the work of Economist Mark Zandi of Moody’s Economy.com. Dr. Watkins estimates that last year’s all cuts budget, which slashed funding for “K-12 education, higher education, health care, the social safety net, and public safety” has already cost the state an estimated 44,000 jobs. Ouch.

She proposes three ways to create jobs now and building a strong economic foundation for the future:

• Maintaining and restoring public services through targeted revenue increases

• Creative bonding to retrofit schools and other public buildings for energy efficiency

• Maintaining strong social insurance systems

Dr. Watkins also found that every $1 Washington invests in these types of initiatives generates more than $1.50 for the state’s economy through jobs and increased commerce. Compare this with a return of only $.32 for every dollar of a perennial Republican idea: corporate tax cuts.

In her State of the State Address, Governor Gregoire declared that “Jobs are the way out of this recession” to applause from both side of the aisle. I agree. Now it’s time for legislators to pass a balanced approach to the budget that will do just that.