Budget has millions for Spokane

OLYMPIA – Saying she’s “investing in what matters most to Washingtonians,” Gov. Chris Gregoire on Tuesday proposed a nearly $30 billion, two-year budget that would include tens of millions of dollars for Spokane-area projects.

“These are good times. These are exciting times,” she said. “Now’s the time to make the investment for the future.”

The budget includes large increases for education, health care, the environment and social services. Buoyed by an unexpected $1.9 billion from the booming economy, it includes no additional taxes.

Some Republicans praised the Democratic governor for wanting to put $262 million of that surplus into a hard-to-tap “rainy day fund.” But they blasted her budget as a free-for-all that sets the state up for big bills as the economy cools.

“She didn’t say no very often, did she?” said Rep. Gary Alexander, R-Olympia.

Anti-tax initiative promoter Tim Eyman labeled the budget “a jaw-dropping lack of fiscal restraint.”

“It’s a feel-good budget and spending splurge that will leave taxpayers with a big hangover,” predicted state GOP Chairwoman Diane Tebelius.

Gregoire’s top priority, she has said for months, is education. She wants to pour more than $2 billion more into public schools, expanding all-day kindergarten in high-poverty areas, boosting teacher pay, promoting math and science learning, shrinking class sizes and increasing special education programs. Her school construction proposal – $809 million – would be the largest in state history.

“I’ve heard a lot about how we spend less per pupil than other states,” she said. “This is to change course.”

Gregoire is also pushing about $1.5 billion in raises for state workers, particularly in hard-to-fill jobs like prison guards and nurses. For workers who have reached top scale, Gregoire wants to add another step to the salary scale.

Other big-ticket items: Puget Sound cleanup, road and bridge projects, more buildings and students at the state’s colleges, more health care for children and more money for the state’s under-funded pension system. She’s proposing a two-year freeze on community college tuition and a cap on tuition increases at the state’s four-year schools.

“We are going to make higher education more affordable,” Gregoire said.

The governor, however, only suggests. The final budget will be written by state lawmakers, who arrive in Olympia next month. By tradition, a governor’s budget proposal serves as a blueprint. But her veto power gives her some extra clout.

Rep. Helen Sommers, D-Seattle, said she expects the final budget to look much like Gregoire’s.

“My ideas might be more cautious, but I don’t know about my colleagues’,” said Sommers, who heads the House budget committee. “I’m Madame No.”

Charles Hasse, president of the Washington Education Association, said that Gregoire’s plan lives up to her promises.

“After decades of neglect in Washington state, the governor deserves full credit for putting her money where her mouth is on education,” he said. He called the budget “outstanding” compared to years past.

“If you compare this to the needs, however, we’ve still got a ways to go,” said Hasse.

Among the spending Gregoire proposes:

Higher education: $60 million to create 3,300 new high-demand slots at colleges, including a new program to train doctoral students in nursing as well as first-year medical and dental students in Spokane. Another $20 million to allow the state to freeze tuition at community and technical colleges for two years and cap four-year tuition increases at 5 percent to 7 percent. Also: nearly $400 million for raises and benefits for faculty and staff, particularly part-time community college faculty. All told, Gregoire wants to add 8,300 new college slots.

Early learning: $29 million for prekindergarten programs and $9 million to launch a rating system for state-paid child care providers, based on how well they teach children. Also: $86 million for a 10 percent boost in state child care payments and to support health care benefits for those child care workers.

Health care: $31 million to provide state-paid health insurance for an additional 32,000 children, bringing the state’s covered total to 624,000. Plus millions more to boost reimbursements for pediatricians treating kids under the Medicaid program and for childhood immunizations.

Crime: $37 million to build 476 more prison beds and $25 million to improve education, job training and release preparation for inmates, so there is less chance of returning to crime when they get out of prison.

“We’re shutting down the revolving door in our prison system,” Gregoire said.

Elections: $4.4 million to try publicly financing supreme and appeals court elections as a way to reduce the impact of interest-group money in judicial races. To qualify, candidates would have to get 100 to 500 small contributions.

Mental health: $20 million to expand mental health treatment, including higher payments for drug and alcohol treatment. Also: more than $100 million for more homes for developmentally disabled people.

Foster children: $23 million for monthly caseworker visits to monitor the health of foster children, plus higher reimbursement for foster parents and more money for mental health treatment of foster kids. Gregoire also wants to cast a wider net for extended family members to care for children who cannot safely remain in their parents’ homes.

Human services: $140 million for more low-income housing and $103 million for higher wages for home care workers.

State worker pay: $1.5 billion in raises. Most state workers would get a 2 percent raise in 2008 and a 3.2 percent raise the following year. For some, the increase would be more: State troopers’ salaries would rise 4 percent a year, and most state nurses would get an extra 17.5 percent increase. Prison guards and others in hard-to-fill jobs would also receive “significant pay increases.”

Parks: Nearly $100 million to fix water supplies, bathrooms, showers, storm water systems and other facilities at state parks. Also, $70 million to develop sites for wildlife conservation and outdoor recreation.

Transportation: Billions of dollars for major projects, including four new ferries, replacing Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct and state Route 520 floating bridge, the North Spokane Corridor, bridges and work at Snoqualmie Pass.