OLYMPIA - For the fourth year in a row, Gov. Chris Gregoire on Thursday outlined more than $1.5 billion in state cuts to health care, social services, prisons and education.

The latest round would increase public-school class sizes, eliminate subsidized health care for the working poor and release hundreds of inmates early.

"These are pretty much the very shocking things we've been trying to avoid for the last three years," Senate Ways and Means Chairman Ed Murray, D-Seattle, said of the governor's proposal.

"There are no choices left," he added.

The Legislature has already trimmed billions in spending over the past several years due to the struggling economy.

If Gregoire's recommendations are enacted, they'd roll back spending roughly to where it was in the 2005-07 budget.

Filed Under : Corrections & Criminal Justice, Health Care, K-12 Education