House Unveils Its Budget And It’s $100 Million Leaner Than Senate Version

House Republicans unveiled a state budget just shy of the $19 billion mark Wednesday, trumping their Senate colleagues in the fiscal conservatism department.

The $18.99 billion House plan is $100 million below the Senate version that cleared the upper house by the narrowest of margins, 25-23, on Wednesday.

House Speaker Clyde Ballard, R-East Wenatchee, and Senate Majority Leader Dan McDonald, R-Bellevue, downplayed the differences, saying the two houses can easily bridge the gap. Lawmakers should be able to send Democratic Gov. Gary Locke a budget in a few weeks, well before the April 27 deadline for adjournment, they said.

But they flatly rejected Democrats’ contention that they plan to jam a hardline conservative budget to Locke, fully expecting a veto, followed by negotiations on the real budget plan.

“I’m doing everything I can to have the governor not veto this,” said Senate budget Chairman Jim West, R-Spokane. “But he will not get everything he wants.”

The House version is nearly $250 million below the spending the governor requested. Locke told reporters he’s generally encouraged by the Republican budgets.

Senate Democrats tried unsuccessfully to make some of the restorations Locke wants: higher salary increases for teachers and state workers, even higher appropriations for education, more slots for the state-subsidized Basic Health Plan, more Child Protective Services workers and more for water and ecology programs.

In each case, the Republicans slapped down the minority amendments, which carried a total price tag of over $140 million.

Rebuffed, the Democrats accused the Republicans of doing more for fat-cat businesses this session - through business and property tax breaks - than for school kids and families.

“This budget isn’t a bridge to the future, it’s a tightrope for families and children, and there’s no safety net,” groused Sen. Harriet Spanel of Bellingham, the Democrats’ ranking member on the budget committee.

The Democrats scoffed at West’s description of the budget as an education-rich proposal. They noted his proposal declines a $16 million federal grant from the Goals 2000 education reform program, scales back some of Locke’s education-reform spending plans, eliminates magnet school funds, and cuts Locke’s program to help property-poor school districts.

But West stood his ground, saying his education budget boosts spending by $600 million, including lower class sizes for fourth-graders, more for school construction, grants for technology and classroom supplies, and enrollment increases for public colleges.