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Headlines
State Budget Transparency: A Look Behind the Numbers
Most states are now wrapping up their 2013-2014 budget cycles, and apparently they're in good shape too. But thanks to the lack of budget transparency, state and local governments are estimated to owe up to $4 trillion more than they have set aside for pensions and retiree health care.
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Policy Brief
Financial Incentives Are The "Core" Of New Education Standards
The implementation of the Common Core State Standards Initiative is forcing states to determine when a “good offer” becomes an offer that cannot be refused. This report will explain the issues, in terms of both finances and fedearlism, surrounding the adoption of the Commone Core.
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Research
Public Sector Pension Reform: Addressing Pressing Fiscal Realities from a Long-Term Perspective
There are persistent fiscal and demographic challenges in most states. The public sector workforce is aging as the baby boom cohort moves towards and into traditional retirement ages. Budgetary pressures at the state and local level make it difficult to increase plan funding and maintain the size of the public sector workforce.
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Headlines
Report Says State Budget Surpluses Don't Mean That Much
A new study shows that many states could end the current fiscal year with surpluses in their general funds. While that may seem like good news, it's probably too early to get excited. That's because those positive numbers are largely the result of one-time influxes of tax revenue that came when investors sold off assets late last calendar year to avoid higher federal tax rates that came in 2013.
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Headlines
State pensions in America: Ruinous Promises
States cannot pretend to be in good financial health unless they tackle pensions.
- View All News Stories
Budget timeframe: Biennial
Fiscal Year begins: July 1
The current state budget can be found here, and the supplemental budget can be found here.
Find the legislative session calendar here.
Find the current legislative leaders here.
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/
David Schumacher, 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
Want a more robust, long-term look at your state's fiscal health, beyond the budget? There are two parts: Click here for the FY2012 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) compiled by the state government, and click here for information on the state's pension liabilities.
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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POLICY BRIEF
Financial Incentives Are The "Core" Of New Education Standards
The implementation of the Common Core State Standards Initiative is forcing states to determine when a “good offer” becomes an offer that cannot be refused. This report will explain the issues, in terms of both finances and fedearlism, surrounding the adoption of the Commone Core.
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HEADLINES: Washington
State Senate budget raises eyebrows but not taxes
State lawmakers are going down to the wire to negotiate a budget deal, but they haven't even agreed on whether the numbers they're using are real or imaginary.
- View All Washington articles
Higher Education :
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HEADLINES
Ex-Penn State president tops highest paid list
Presidents of public universities are taking home bigger paychecks, and a growing number are raking in more than $1 million.
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HEADLINES
Performance based funding becoming the new norm in higher education
As universities and colleged continue to struggle with declining revenues, states are increasingly looking to performance-based funding in an effort to get more bang for their limited higher education dollars.
- View All Washington articles
Budget Gimmicks :
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HEADLINES
State Budget Transparency: A Look Behind the Numbers
Most states are now wrapping up their 2013-2014 budget cycles, and apparently they're in good shape too. But thanks to the lack of budget transparency, state and local governments are estimated to owe up to $4 trillion more than they have set aside for pensions and retiree health care.
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HEADLINES
Report Says State Budget Surpluses Don't Mean That Much
A new study shows that many states could end the current fiscal year with surpluses in their general funds. While that may seem like good news, it's probably too early to get excited. That's because those positive numbers are largely the result of one-time influxes of tax revenue that came when investors sold off assets late last calendar year to avoid higher federal tax rates that came in 2013.
- View All Washington articles
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Solutions:
How Reality-Based Budgeting Can Permanently Resolve State Budget Gaps
State Budget Solutions recommends that state legislators take action in 2013 to resolve the serious state financial crises by changing their focus from inputs to outcomes by redesigning budgets from the ground up based on priorities and performance.
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Solutions:
How to Prevent Future Pension Crises
The time for state and local governments to offer defined contribution retirement plans that protect both taxpayer dollars and public employee retirement security is now.
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Solutions:
State Lawmaker’s Guide to Evaluating Medicaid Expansion Projections
Supporters of Obamacare claim that expanding Medicaid will entail little to no cost to state governments, since the federal government will fund the vast majority of the additional costs. Indeed, some analyses project states achieving savings from adopting the expansion. However, state lawmakers should be wary of accepting such analyses at face value.
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Solutions:
Medicaid Is Broken—Let the States Fix It
Block-granting Medicaid is the best way to deliver better, cost-effective care to the most vulnerable Americans.
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Solutions:
The Case for Reform: Prisons
Prisons are supremely important, but they are also a supremely expensive government program, and thus prison systems must be held to the highest standards of accountability.
- View All Solutions
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Public Sector Pension Reform: Addressing Pressing Fiscal Realities from a Long-Term Perspective
There are persistent fiscal and demographic challenges in most states. The public sector workforce is aging as the baby boom cohort moves towards and into traditional retirement ages. Budgetary pressures at the state and local level make it difficult to increase plan funding and maintain the size of the public sector workforce.
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State pensions in America: Ruinous Promises
States cannot pretend to be in good financial health unless they tackle pensions.
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State pension reforms to result in more hybrid pension plans -- report
More states will create hybrid plans in the future because of the less-volatile contribution levels and the fact that the defined contribution components are portable for a workforce that is now increasingly more mobile, according to a new report.
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In face of massive unfunded liability, states still slow to pre-fund retiree healthcare benefits
The size of unfunded retiree healthcare liabilities varies widely by state. While some states have been making slow progress towards pre-funding these obligations, other have been contributing to them on a pay-as-you-go basis. As a result of the latter approach, combined unfunded liabilities are $425 billion under the most optimistic assumptions.
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BLOG
Discount rates and the fair-market valuation pension critique
At its core, the debate over how to properly fund public pension plans starts with how to accurately value liabilities so that governments can meet their obligations in the future.
- View All Pensions
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BLOG: Revenue
State revenue up another $231 million - $2 billion more for 2013-15
Good news for state budget writers - today's revenue forecast has further increased projected revenue for the current and next budget by a combined $231 million for a total increase of more than $2 billion for 2013-15.
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BLOG: Revenue
State may want to keep those death tax refunds on hand
While saying we don't want to be like the other Washington (D.C.), Washington state policy makers appear to have taken a page out of the Congressional playbook by utilizing retroactive tax policy.
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BLOG: K-12 Education, Federal Government Impact, Federal Government Impact
Common Core raises questions about government involvement, financial and otherwise, in local issues
Putting aside the merits or shortcomings of the Common Core, accepting national standards over which states have no control weakens the role that local officials have traditionally had in K-12 education.
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BLOG: Revenue
Tax increases for compensation enhancements?
The real sticking point in Washington state continues to be whether to increase taxes despite the fact state revenues are currently projected to increase by $2 billion for the 2013-15 biennium (and may increase more at next week's Revenue Forecast).
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BLOG: Revenue
Olympia's Retroactive Tax "Twilight Zone"
While voters re-affirmed the standalone death tax, it is doubtful they meant to give the Legislature a green light to embark down the road of retroactive tax changes, especially for people no longer around to defend themselves due to their death.
- View All Commentary
