House Dems unveil supplemental budget proposal
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - House Democrats on Tuesday unveiled a supplemental budget proposal that looks to change the timing of payments to schools and make some cuts to higher education and other programs to save the state nearly $890 million.
The proposal does not ask voters to consider a temporary sales tax increase, as suggested by Gov. Chris Gregoire.
The Democrats propose to leave $504 million in reserves in their proposal that addresses the current budget shortfall of about $500 million.
"We believe we have achieved a workable solution that doesn't do long-term harm to our state," Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, said in a statement released with the budget details.
The biggest savings come from delaying $405 million in some payments to schools until the next budget cycle that begins in July 2013. The proposal also calls for $65 million in cuts to higher education and $224 million in cuts to health care and human service programs.
While the state budget plan does not raise taxes, it does open the door to new taxes at the local level. The budget reduces distributions to local governments by $82 million, including support for criminal justice programs and the elimination of a sales tax credit for rural counties.
To offset that, the state would give local governments authority to make some increases in local taxes - essentially tax increases without a public vote.
Hunter said local governments over time have punted some of their duties to the state.
"We can't afford to do that anymore," Hunter said.
The House Democrats' plan also counts on $18.1 million from the elimination of a tax break that out-of-state banks are able to claim on interest earned on first mortgages.
The plan also accounts for nearly $54 million in fund transfers, including more than $37 million in unspent agency money being returned to the state's general fund.
The Democrats also are looking to save $130 million in other areas, including reductions to the Department of Corrections' chemical dependency treatment and community supervision programs.
Lawmakers initially had been looking at a $2 billion budget problem but addressed some of it during a special legislative session in December. They were helped, in part, by a forecast last week that showed a slight uptick in revenue.
That came in addition to about $340 million in savings because of a drop in demand for state services, or caseloads, reducing a roughly $900 million shortfall to about $500 million.
Senate Democrats are expected to unveil their budget proposal next week. The 60-day legislative session ends March 8.
The proposal does not ask voters to consider a temporary sales tax increase, as suggested by Gov. Chris Gregoire.
The Democrats propose to leave $504 million in reserves in their proposal that addresses the current budget shortfall of about $500 million.
"We believe we have achieved a workable solution that doesn't do long-term harm to our state," Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, said in a statement released with the budget details.
The biggest savings come from delaying $405 million in some payments to schools until the next budget cycle that begins in July 2013. The proposal also calls for $65 million in cuts to higher education and $224 million in cuts to health care and human service programs.
While the state budget plan does not raise taxes, it does open the door to new taxes at the local level. The budget reduces distributions to local governments by $82 million, including support for criminal justice programs and the elimination of a sales tax credit for rural counties.
To offset that, the state would give local governments authority to make some increases in local taxes - essentially tax increases without a public vote.
Hunter said local governments over time have punted some of their duties to the state.
"We can't afford to do that anymore," Hunter said.
The House Democrats' plan also counts on $18.1 million from the elimination of a tax break that out-of-state banks are able to claim on interest earned on first mortgages.
The plan also accounts for nearly $54 million in fund transfers, including more than $37 million in unspent agency money being returned to the state's general fund.
The Democrats also are looking to save $130 million in other areas, including reductions to the Department of Corrections' chemical dependency treatment and community supervision programs.
Lawmakers initially had been looking at a $2 billion budget problem but addressed some of it during a special legislative session in December. They were helped, in part, by a forecast last week that showed a slight uptick in revenue.
That came in addition to about $340 million in savings because of a drop in demand for state services, or caseloads, reducing a roughly $900 million shortfall to about $500 million.
Senate Democrats are expected to unveil their budget proposal next week. The 60-day legislative session ends March 8.
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