Spokane Lilac Festival

Today is the 80th day of the 105-day session and spring has come to Olympia. On the capitol campus, yellow daffodils are coming up along walkways and the cherry trees are beginning to blossom.

The cherry blossoms are beautiful, but it isn’t spring without lilacs. The Spokane Lilac Festival is a time-honored tradition for our community. The Festival’s mission is to honor our military, celebrate our youth, and showcase our beautiful region. Today I had the opportunity to meet with members of the 75th Anniversary Diamond Royal Court as we commemorated the Lilac Festival with a resolution.

Senate Budget is Released

The Senate Republican/Majority Coalition Caucus released its proposed operating budget today. This is an all-cuts budget, and I have serious concerns about the impact it would have on many of our friends and neighbors. Every day I hear from community members that are impacted by these cuts, and people’s lives are on the line.

One in five people in our community relies on some form of service from the Department of Social and Health Services, and these services are hit hard in this budget. Here are some of the core services that would face reduction or elimination in this proposal:

• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) & Child Care ($143.9 million)
• WorkFirst Partners ($14.5 million)
• Aged, Blind, Disabled and Housing and Essential Needs (HEN) program changes ($81.7 million)

TANF helps struggling families keep a roof overhead and food on the table.  Child care services help parents in low-wage jobs afford to go to work. Reductions to WorkFirst Partners would cut assistance to vital training, work search and education programs that help people get back on their feet after being out of work. Cuts to Aged, Blind, Disabled services would cut off assistance to about 20,000 low-income and disabled individuals.

The $2 Billion Myth

One argument you will hear in the upcoming weeks is that the state has $2 billion more in revenue coming in during the upcoming budget cycle than we did during the last one – and that is true.

But it is also just one part of the equation.

State expenses have also increased by more than $2 billion since the last biennium. As you can see in the chart, we have more kids in public schools, more students enrolling in higher education that need financial assistance, more people in prison, and more low-income families and seniors that need medical care.

In other words, it costs more this year to run the state than it did last year. Despite having more money this year, our revenues are not keeping up with expenses. Based on current expense and revenue projections, the state budget is about $1 billion short of paying for our obligations. When you add obligation to increase education funding by $1.3 billion, we’re about $2.3 billion short.

How would you balance the state budget? The Seattle Times has an interactive tool that readers can use to get an idea of what it will take to balance the state budget. The tool isn’t a complete picture–it only provides a small handful of options–but it does highlight some of the challenges we face in Olympia. The House will release our alternative budget sometime next week. In the meantime, give it a shot and let me know what you think.

Boys & Girls Club “Youth of the Year”

Each year the Boys & Girls Club of Washington State recognizes “Youth of the Year” from each county chapter. The 2013 “Youth of the Year” from Boys & Girls Club of Spokane County is Jurnea Allen, a senior at Rogers High School. Jurnea is a longtime member of the Northtown Boys & Girls Club and an outstanding student with an extensive community service record.

I had the opportunity to meet Jurnea when she came to Olympia to be recognized at the Governor’s Mansion. I was proud that, in addition to her recognition as Spokane County’s Youth of the Year, she was also awarded the statewide Governor’s Community Service Award. Jurnea’s prestigious awards come with college scholarships that will help her in the next phase of her journey.

Jurnea, the Lilac Princesses and others like them make me hopeful for the next generation.  People in our community really look out for eachother, and it is inspiring to see such commitment to service coming in our young people. This is one of many reasons I am proud to serve the 3rd District.

Best Regards,

Representative Marcus Riccelli
3rd Legislative District – Spokane