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Headlines : Washington
Accounting gimmick is big part of state House budget moves
House Democrats have proposed bridging the state budget gap largely by delaying certain school payments and making more than $400 million in spending cuts.
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Headlines : Washington
Democrats' state budget comes out today
Democrats and their allies took grim pokes over the weekend at a House Republican budget plan that slashes welfare benefits and asks most state employees to take 24 days off work without pay in the next year.
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Headlines : Washington
Reduced demand for states services could save $340 million
This has the potential to be a game changer for budget writers who've struggled to close a $1.5 billion shortfall. There's still a big hole left to fill, but the new money could change the budget equation.
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Headlines : Washington
State Senate endorses proposed balanced-budget amendment
The state Senate has approved a proposed amendment that would require the Legislature to pass a balanced budget - and prohibit spending or other actions that would create a future shortfall.
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Headlines : Washington
State budget writers get good news with $200M windfall
A $200 million windfall announced Friday provided some good news to lawmakers struggling to close the $1.5 million state budget shortfall.
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Gov. Chris Gregoire
Office of Governor Chris Gregoire
P.O. Box 40002
Olympia, WA 98504-0002
Phone: (360) 902-4111
Fax: (360) 753-4110
http://www.governor.wa.gov/
Victor A. Moore, Director
Office of Financial Management
P.O. Box 43113
Olympia, WA 98504-3113
Phone (360) 902-0555
http://www.ofm.wa.gov/
ofm.budget@ofm.wa.gov
2012 Legislative Calendar: Regular Session convenes January 9, adjourns March 8.
Legislative Budget Leaders:
Rep. Zack Hudgins (D), Chair, House Committe on General Government Appropriations & Oversight, zack.hudgins@leg.wa.gov (360) 786-7956
Rep. Mark Miloscia (D), Co-Vice-Chair, House Committee on General Government Appropriations & Oversight, mark.miloscia@leg.wa.gov (360) 786-7898
Rep. Luis Moscoso (D), Co-Vice-Chair, House Committee on General Government Appropriations & Oversight, luis.moscoso@leg.wa.gov (360) 786-7900
Rep. Ross Hunter (D), Chair, House Ways & Means Committee, ross.hunter@leg.wa.gov (360) 786-7936
Rep. Jeannie Darneille (D), Co-Vice-Chair, House Ways & Means Committee, jeannie.darneille@leg.wa.gov (360) 786-7974
Rep. Bob Hasegawa (D), Co-Vice-Chair, House Ways & Means Committee, bob.hasegawa@leg.wa.gov (360) 786-7862
Sen. Ed Murray (D), Chair, Senate Ways & Means Committee, Edward.Murray@leg.wa.gov (360) 786-7628
Sen. Derek Kilmer (D), Vice-Chair, Senate Ways & Means Committee, Derek.Kilmer@leg.wa.gov (360) 786-7650
The current state budget can be found here.
Washington is required to pass a "balanced budget." Section 43.88.033 of the State law mandates the budget shall not propose expenditures in excess of the statutory limit. Section 43.88.050 requires the governor to ensure anticipated revenues match estimated expenditures. Section 43.88.110(5) requires the governor to make an "across-the-board" reduction in allotments to funds to prevent any cash deficits due to projected cash deficits. Section 43.135.025 limits state expenditures to the previous year's appropriations limit plus the fiscal growth factor, which is the average growth in state personal income for the preceding ten years. In spite of these provisions, the State's Budgetary Comparison Schedules reported budget deficits (negative net transactions) for each of the three years examined. Washington law forbids the carrying over of a deficit from one year to the next.
Washington is engaged in a practice called budgeting for fiscal discipline. Instead of the varying assumptions inherent in other states' budgets, Washington estimates revenue to grow at a fixed rate, and caps spending accordingly. While this system has varying degrees of success, keeping any shortfalls in revenue from getting out of hand, Washington also requires the budget document to conform to generally accepted accounting principles, as applicable to states.
The State's major governmental funds are the General Fund, Higher Education Special Revenue Fund and the Higher Education Endowment Permanent Fund. Of the three major governmental funds, only the General Fund is budgeted. Some non-major funds are budgeted. But judging from the differences between actual and budgeted figures, it is likely that few of the total governmental funds are budgeted. Budgetary information within the Budgetary Comparison Schedules are not efficiently ordered and do not include the necessary "total" columns. [from the Institute for Truth in Accounting]
Find the state's bond ratings here.
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K-12 Education :
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HEADLINES: Washington
Republicans propose stand-alone education budget
Washington state House Republicans on Thursday released a proposed education budget they say would preserve the 180-day school year while cutting efforts to combat bullying and enforce civil rights.
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HEADLINES: Washington
In Olympia, volatile mix of budget, social issues
Lawmakers face an all-too-familiar problem when they convene Monday for a 60-day legislative session: balancing a state budget that's way out of whack. Both a sales-tax and gas-tax increase are on the table. The state Supreme Court says more money is needed for education.
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Higher Education :
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SOLUTIONS: Washington
Top 10 Ideas to Cut Waste, Balance the Budget and Stimulate the Economy Without Raising Taxes
Ten ideas to cut waste and balance the buget without raising taxes, including more efficient K-12 funding, spending high education tax dollars more wisely and rein in state employee salaries and benefits.
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HEADLINES: Washington
Gregoire outlines grim choices for budget cuts
The latest round of cuts proposed by Gov. Chris Gregoire would increase public-school class sizes, eliminate subsidized health care for the working poor and release hundreds of inmates early.
- View All Washington articles
Budget Gimmicks :
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HEADLINES: Washington
Accounting gimmick is big part of state House budget moves
House Democrats have proposed bridging the state budget gap largely by delaying certain school payments and making more than $400 million in spending cuts.
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HEADLINES: Washington
Put it on Plastic! – New Approach to Big Budget Problem Emerging in House
House Democrats are thinking of going into debt to help plug the big $1.5 billion hole in the state budget, a scheme that could eliminate the need for the Legislature's much-talked-about plan to go the voters for a tax increase.
- View All Washington articles
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Solutions: Washington
Top 10 Ideas to Cut Waste, Balance the Budget and Stimulate the Economy Without Raising Taxes
Ten ideas to cut waste and balance the buget without raising taxes, including more efficient K-12 funding, spending high education tax dollars more wisely and rein in state employee salaries and benefits.
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Solutions: Washington
DeBolt proposes common sense ideas
The plan is aimed at reducing regulatory burden, and increasing permit predictability by suggesting the suspension of some growth management requirements, the suspension of agency rulemaking, and shortening permitting decisions.
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Solutions: Washington
State officials need to overhaul basic budget strategy
state budget writers need is a paradigm shift to reality-based budgeting, a shift from the prevailing budget-writing paradigm, ongoing programs are assumed to continue and spending is assumed to go up, up, up. These assumptions represent the easy route for legislators, but a very expensive path for taxpayers.
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Solutions: Washington
How can legislators solve a $5.3 billion deficit?
there is no shortage of ideas for fixing the budget. The demand for government services is virtually infinite, but the resources to pay for them are not. This is why legislators must do the job for which they were hired—prioritize the role of government within existing resources.
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Solutions: Washington
Questions for Legislators and School Boards for K-12 Education
Public education is a huge expense in state budgets. It is important to know how much of the taxpayer dollars actually reach the classroom and what the taxpayers are getting for that investment. Here are questions to ask of legislators, school board members and school officials.
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Washington
Top 10 Ideas to Cut Waste, Balance the Budget and Stimulate the Economy Without Raising Taxes
Ten ideas to cut waste and balance the buget without raising taxes, including more efficient K-12 funding, spending high education tax dollars more wisely and rein in state employee salaries and benefits.
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OPINION : Washington
State pension hole is much deeper than official estimates
Washington state pensions are in worse shape than state officials would have citizens believe. Andrew G. Biggs writes that the largest failing of the state's current pension system is the nature of elected leaders to make benefit promises without paying for them.
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BLOG : New York, Oklahoma, Washington
Pension Reform Update
The realities of public pension liabilities have finally dawned on legislators in statehouses from coast to coast. As huge pension debt looms on the horizon, both Democratic and Republican lawmakers are taking steps to reign in pension costs in their best attempt to keep the problem from growing. Not every state is taking action, and those that are have caught on slowly.
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Washington
State Auditor Has Concerns with L&I's Pension System
A new report out from the office of the State Auditor finds that the Department of Labor and Industries' pension "system's internal controls are inadequate to ensure public resources are safeguarded."
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Washington
Time to Come Clean in Washington State
Washington State Treasurer Jim McIntire has learned some lessons from the fast and loose Wall Street accounting that plunged the country into recession - he's learned to obfuscate and mislead. When current and prospective bond holders look to Treasurer McIntire to understand the condition of the state's pension fund, they'd best beware.
Treasurer McIntire appears to be going beyond simple carelessness or cleverness. Treasurer McIntire is leading bond holders to believe the State Actuary's grim Risk Assessment fully reflects the condition of the pension fund. In fact, the situation is much worse. And Treasurer McIntire knows it.
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