State government officials are scrambling this week to figure out what will happen if there is no budget in place when the new fiscal year starts July 1.
It’s not only social service programs that would be slammed by a state-government shutdown: The criminal justice system also would take a big hit if a budget stalemate cuts off the flow of money from Olympia. Ask Rep. Steve Tharinger of Dungeness. A former Clallam County commissioner, he knows state funding provides more than a third of the county’s $70 million budget – and he knows that courts, prosecutors and the justice system account for nearly three-quarters of total county spending.
Should the state money dry up, courts and prosecutors’ offices would be parched for support, and that could mean backlogs, delays and limits on enforcement.