OLYMPIA – The Legislature passed its $80.2 billion supplemental operating budget today, revising last year’s biennial budget to address rising costs due to inflation and impacts from the tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration.
“This budget protects people served by core state services impacted by the cuts from Congress. Where we could, we backfilled in the areas of food, shelter, and health because the federal government cuts are not just administrative, they cause very real harm. We know this is not perfect, but it sets us up for the future. With the new Millionaire’s Tax, future legislatures can deliver meaningful tax relief that saves Washington families money, whether it be through their grocery bill or the tax bill for their small business,” said Rep. Timm Ormsby (D-Spokane), chair of the House Appropriations Committee.
In the budget, last year’s increased funding for maintenance, supplies, and operating costs at K-12 public schools is maintained, as is the increased spending on special education. There is no cap, eligibility reduction, or rate freeze for Working Connections Child Care (WCCC), and the WCCC per-cap maintenance level cost of $507 million is funded. Thanks to a donation from the Ballmer Group, the budget expands thousands of new ECEAP slots.
“This supplemental budget is about protecting the basics people count on — food on the table, a roof overhead, and access to health care. As federal decisions create new costs and uncertainty for states, we made a deliberate choice to step in where we could to prevent harm and maintain the services Washington families rely on every day. This budget isn’t perfect, and it required difficult tradeoffs, but it reflects our responsibility to keep people supported now while maintaining the stability our state will need in the years ahead,” said Sen. June Robinson (D-Everett), chair of the Senate Ways & Means Committee.
Because of new costs caused by H.R. 1, Washington is also spending over $370 million in new funding for SNAP and Medicaid, complying with administrative requirements and backfilling cuts as much as possible.
The budget includes limited reductions, including a 1 percent across the board administrative cut to state agencies, excluding small agencies. The budget also requires a new attendance policy for Working Connections Child Care enrollees, which has an estimated savings of $606 million.
The budget now heads to the governor for approval.
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