Dear friends and neighbors,
This has been a wild time here in Olympia. With cut-off deadlines flying by, lots of visitors and the release of budget proposals, things have been very exciting.
The House 2011-2013 operating budget proposal was heard in committee this week, and will be voted off the floor Saturday. The budget contains many difficult decisions as we grapple with the tough economic times that everyone is dealing with across the state. The intent of the budget is to make responsible decisions for the times that we are facing.
The news is certainly not all bad – in fact, there are some pretty hopeful things in this budget. This recession is ending and we tried to provide a strong, sustainable foundation for our future by preserving key services like:
- Children’s Health Care
- Levy Equalization
- Passport to College for foster children
- Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP)
- Disability Lifeline
- National Board Certification for Teachers
- Basic Health Plan
- Family Planning
At the same time, we are reforming and rethinking the way we provide those services. The budget includes cost-saving reform measures including Governor Gregoire’s proposal to consolidate printing, IT and General Administration services into a new Department of Enterprise Services. Other reforms include:
- Ending recent retire-rehire abuses
- Saving future pension costs
- Incentivizing better high school and college graduation rates
- Making investments in new K-12 funding formulas
- Moving our health care system forward – more managed care, bridging to federal health care reform
- Disability Lifeline housing program
- Aligning arts and heritage programs
Maximizing efficiencies will get us part of the way there, but there are still very deep cuts to vital services in this budget. It fills the $ 5.1 billion hole by cutting $3.2 billion out of current levels of state spending and enacting cost-saving reforms, foregoing $1.2 billion of planned increases for things like I-728 and I-732 (the teacher salary and classroom size reduction initiatives,) and drawing $514 million from fund transfers and other resource changes.
Examples of cuts include:
- $482 million reduction to higher education institutions (offset, in part, by increased tuition)
- $362 million from automatic increases to Plans 1
- $216 million from K-4 class-size enhancement
- $177 million from a cut in state employee salaries
- $141 million in hospital rates and related changes
- $108 million from changes to the Basic Health Plan
- $100 million in reduced Disability Lifeline cash grants
- $97 million for reduced personal care hours for long term care and developmentally disabled clients.
We anticipate the rollout of the Senate operating budget early next week. And there will be many issues to hammer out before we reach a final document. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or thoughts that you have about the budget or the budget process.
Capital budget creates 51,780 jobs state-wide
The 2011-13 capital budget was also released this week. The $3.1 billion construction budget proposal focuses on job creation and fully funds $390 million in statewide K-12 construction needs.
Hans Dunshee, chair of the House Capital Budget committee, says the budget employs 51,780 people throughout the state and also supports economic activity and jobs related to hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing, with 60,250 jobs related to those industries.
You can read more about the capital budget proposal here or see a map of projects in our district.
As always, I welcome your ideas and feedback. I am honored to be representing you.
Regards,
Kristine