Senate unveils budget proposal

OLYMPIA – The state Senate on Wednesday proposed spending an additional $611 million this year, including millions of dollars to promote Spokane’s skating bid, help clean up the Spokane River, fix Avista Stadium and bolster local mental health programs.

“It’s a good budget,” said Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane. It calls for $207 million to maintain current programs and $404 million for new ones.

Not included in those figures, but approved by the budget writers, was Washington State University’s request to use its own land grant interest to build a new $63 million life sciences center in Pullman. “There is no higher priority of WSU,” the university’s Larry Ganders told lawmakers at an afternoon hearing.

Of the state’s $1.6 billion tax windfall this year – much of it from real estate transactions – the Senate budget calls for socking away the remaining $956 million for education, pensions, health care and other future needs.

“Some days it does rain here, so we have to watch out for those rainy days,” explained budget committee chairwoman Sen. Margarita Prentice, D-Seattle.

And the next two years won’t be quite so sunny, the state’s economic weather forecaster warned budget writers Wednesday. Economist Chang Mook Sohn’s revenue forecast, which lawmakers base their budget on, started with good news: The tax windfall will likely be $107 million more than expected even a few months ago.

But real estate taxes slowed dramatically in December, Sohn warned. That suggests that the housing market is finally cooling.

“Housing simply cannot continue to accelerate, year after year, month after month,” Sohn said. “There’s always a correction.”

Republicans criticized the Democrat-written Senate budget, saying that the state really only needed to spend about $150 million more.

“I think we’re playing a spending game: who can spend the most,” said Rep. Gary Alexander, R-Olympia.

“Is this sustainable? Is this responsible?” said Sen. Joe Zarelli, R-Ridgefield. “Just because we have it doesn’t mean we have to spend it.”

In the House of Representatives, where budget writers plan to release their version next week, Speaker Frank Chopp said that lawmakers agree with much of the Senate’s budget. The House, too, wants to leave at least $900 million in reserves, he said. He said the House would probably want to spend more on children’s health programs. A final version must be hashed out by the time the legislative session ends March 9.

Among the local-interest items in the Senate’s proposed operating and construction budgets:

“$100,000 for marketing for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships to Spokane in 2007. Lawmakers also intend to add another $500,000 in the next budget if the city wins its bid for the 2009 World Championships.

“$2.8 million for repairs to Avista Stadium, the Spokane Indians’ stadium, part of $10 million proposed for facilities used by the state’s five minor league teams.

“For some of us, baseball’s a religion,” Prentice said.

“$1.25 million toward cleaning up the Spokane River.

“$5 million for “military communities infrastructure projects,” such as development easements, “clear zones” around airfields, and moving a National Guard unit from the Spokane airport to Fairchild Air Force Base. That would free up industrial space at the airport.

“$1 million for WSU life sciences research in Spokane.

“$1.3 million for more staff and operating costs at Eastern State Hospital’s legal offender unit, which evaluates and treats mentally ill criminal defendants.

“$10.9 million for mental-health Regional Support Networks throughout the state, including Spokane’s.

“$60,000 for a study for a “transloader” – essentially a large crane system – to load rail cars along the planned $1.5 million Geiger Spur track west of Spokane. By adding the capacity to load railcars with trucked-in incinerator ash or crops, the line could get a badly need boost of traffic, proponents say.

“You make these rail lines much more viable by increasing volume,” said Spokane County Commisioner Todd Mielke.

“$100,000 for Eastern Washington University’s Northwest Autism Center.

“$100,000 for “continuum of care” money to help Spokane-area children learn.

“$100,000 for Spokane’s International Trade Alliance.

“$800,000 for WSU’s “AgNet” weather system, which provides data for fire crews, farmers and scientists.

“$465,000 for food bank refrigeration projects.