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December 11, 2010 in Region
Lawmakers adjourn special session
Agree to $590 budget reduction plan
OLYMPIA — Washington state lawmakers quickly approved a plan to shrink the state’s $1.1 billion deficit in a one-day special session Saturday, a preview of heavier budget-balancing work that lies ahead.
The Legislature’s bipartisan plan cuts state spending, raids off-budget accounts and counts on stepped-up collection of existing taxes to trim about $590 million from the deficit through June.
Further spending cuts and other steps identified by Gov. Chris Gregoire could subtract about $110 million more from the deficit. The rest will have to be addressed in Gregoire’s proposed supplemental budget.
“I am very proud of what the Legislature was able to do today and how they did it,” Gregoire said. “I think it’s historic the bipartisan way in which they stood up to the most challenging time in 80 years.”
State officials face even larger deficit problems in the next two-year budget, which covers spending from mid-2011 to mid-2013. The shortfall in that nearly $33 billion budget is estimated at about $4.6 billion, the second straight two-year budget cycle dominated by slow tax collections following the Great Recession.
Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, said there were two lessons to glean from the special session: “One, this is going to be incredibly challenging. Two, things do go faster when there is bipartisan agreement.”
Straight-ahead tax increases were off the table following the November election, which saw voters reject new taxes and place renewed restrictions on the Legislature’s ability to raise taxes without a statewide vote.
Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, said Saturday’s actions were just first steps “in managing our way out of this recession.”
“We will have to re-examine new ways for the government to serve the needs of the people of Washington,” Hunter said. “This recession is hard on everyone — our families, our businesses and our state. People have elected us to do the best job we can do. It isn’t easy.”
About a dozen protesters stood in the rain to greet lawmakers heading to committee hearings. They carried signs encouraging higher taxes on the rich and sang Christmas-carol protest songs, including a “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” parody aimed at “Gregoire the budget cutter.”
“We’re going to see really draconian cuts. I wanted to make sure people in poverty have a strong voice here at the Capitol,” said Jean Squires, a 29-year-old student at The Evergreen State College who was holding a sign that read “Poverty is immoral.”
Gina Petry, who was working with an anti-budget cut campaign called Sisters Organized for Survival, said that even people who don’t currently use the services at risk should be worried about the cuts.
“All it takes is one layoff or one accident, and they can be in a position to need these services,” she said.
Most of the spending cuts in the Legislature’s $590 million plan were tied to education and social service programs, with each category reduced by about $100 million. That included suspension of a payment meant to reduce K-4 class sizes, reductions in Basic Health Plan spending and smaller cash grants through the Disability Lifeline program.
About $50 million in savings would come from the Department of Corrections, including previously announced plans to close the prison on McNeil Island in Pierce County.
Roughly $210 million would come from diverting federal aid intended to boost public education employment. About $55 million more would come from various smaller fund transfers.
The state Department of Revenue also was expected to contribute about $45 million, including plans for a tax amnesty program that would encourage settlement of delinquent accounts.
Gregoire signed the Legislature’s bills into law Saturday night.
“The Legislature is at last moving in a positive direction,” said Sen. Joe Zarelli, R-Ridgefield. “It took far longer than it should have to get to this point, but perhaps the severity of the budget situation is now understood in all quarters.”
Associated Press writer Rachel La Corte contributed to this report.
Children permitted at Washington prison powwows 
hawken on December 11 at 5:01 p.m.
$18k (one day’s work according to misjudgment) for $590 million from the deficit through June…. seems like a good investment to me.
Obviously, much more cutting needs to follow.
Radbooks on December 11 at 5:18 p.m.
How do you stop a payment for K-4 class size reduction at this time of year? Those classes started back in September and, you know, the school year runs until June. Where do the districts get the money to pay for those teachers/classes??
hawken on December 11 at 5:37 p.m.
Radbooks….
If you’re starved for logic and reason, try the Heritage Foundation.
http://www.heritage.org/
509ifyourlucky on December 11 at 7:11 p.m.
Radbooks on December 11 at 5:18 p.m.
How do you stop a payment for K-4 class size reduction at this time of year? Those classes started back in September and, you know, the school year runs until June. Where do the districts get the money to pay for those teachers/classes??
Here’s your answer.
Class sizes will increase starting September 2011.
cheddar on December 11 at 8:00 p.m.
@509,
You might have benefited from a smaller class size by learning better grammar. “509ifyou’relucky” perhaps?
lowtechmaster on December 11 at 8:28 p.m.
Why are children, the poor, the disadvantaged, and the elderly singled out for catastrophic cuts? What about all the state employees with their huge salaries, their medical benefits (for which they pay comparatively very little), and their bloated pensions? What about user fees for those who actually use such things as state parks and forests, and the free ferry services? And why do we have to pay extra to register our cars in person? Why not fire all those folks and require car registration to be done via mail? As usual, the Legislature took the easy way out!!
WRC on December 11 at 11:54 p.m.
Here is a pdf of what was cut today from K-12 budget.
URL: http://leap.leg.wa.gov/leap/Budget/Detail/2010/coBill1211.pd
Here is cut # 160 We have Reading Corps in our elementary schools in Spokane and Stevens County
160. ELIMINATE READING CORPS - The Reading Corps program provides grants to schools with low reading
scores to provide student tutoring through the use of AmeriCorps and VISTA members. The budget assumes
elimination of remaining funding for Fiscal Year 2011, a reduction of 50 percent.
ZagChuck on December 12 at 12:34 a.m.
@ lowtech
The answer is simply, too many elected officials worry about their reelections rather than doing what is right. This is especially true of the Democrat Majority in Washington State. They are too afraid to take on the union powerful thugs who control their reelections in the ;last primary They saw firsthand what happens when they don’t follow orders from the union bosses, the union finances others to take them out. http://www.washingtonstatewire.com/home/5818-labor_and_lawyers_were_behind_sneak_attack_on_berkey_pdc_says_%E2%80%93_created_fake_%E2%80%98republican%E2%80%99_campaign_to_build_up_weak_opponent.htm
We need more representatives at every level government who are willing to stand for (and do) what is right.
Quick way to reduce the “deficit spending” is to reduce or remove the professional politicians who are more worried about reelection than representing their constituents and more concerned about their re-elections than our futures.
Go look at the majority in Olympia, and see who I am talking about. Then look at the minority members’ voting records and PDC reports. You’ll find that union money coincides with their aisle crossing votes on “labor issues.”
misjustice on December 12 at 11:23 a.m.
“Roughly $210 million would come from diverting federal aid intended to boost public education employment.”
Ahh, the “shifty dangerous” method of accounting is at play here; robbing Peter to pay Paul. Where is the 210 million being diverted to? Is this legal? Diverting federal funds away from education? For me, it doesn’t pass the smell test.