A new forensic hospital may crowd out other 2023–25 capital budget spending
Appropriations from all funds in the 2021–23 capital budget (as amended by the 2022 supplemental) are 54.7% higher than in 2019–21. That’s the largest increase in capital budget spending going back to at least the mid-1990s. Bonds make up a significant percentage of capital budget resources; thus, the capital budget is constrained by the constitutional […]
October 27 , 2022 - Emily Makings
Managing budget expectations
Last week, David Schumacher, the director of the Office of Financial Management (OFM), gave the Washington State Senior Citizens Foundation a preview of the upcoming budget cycle. He attempted to tamp down expectations of another big-spending year. This welcome reminder comes after agencies have submitted substantial operating budget requests for 2023–25 (my overview is here; […]
October 25 , 2022 - Emily Makings
Some good news on long-term care program solvency
In 2020, after passage of Washington’s long-term care (LTC) program but before any premiums were assessed, Milliman prepared an actuarial study of the program for the state. It estimated that the statutory premium rate of 0.58% would “be insufficient to keep the program solvent for 75 years under the current law.” Given that and widespread […]
October 21 , 2022 - Emily Makings
How the paid family and medical leave and long-term care payroll taxes will impact employees next year
As I wrote yesterday, the paid family and medical leave (PFML) premium will increase from 0.6% to 0.8% next year (including a solvency surcharge). The PFML premium is paid on wages up to the Social Security cap, which is increasing 9.0% next year to $160,200. Additionally, the state’s long-term care (LTC) program is scheduled to […]
October 20 , 2022 - Kriss Sjoblom
Interest rates move higher
The quarterly forecast of state tax revenue prepared by the state Economic and Revenue Forecast Council (ERFC) is based upon an economic forecast also prepared by ERFC. In my September 21 post on the update to the revenue forecast, I observed that materials released earlier that day by the Federal Reserve Board’s Open Market Committee […]
October 20 , 2022 - Emily Makings
Paid family and medical leave premium rate will increase to 0.8% next year
The Employment Security Department (ESD) has announced that the premium rate for the paid family and medical leave (PFML) program will be 0.8% in 2023. (The announcement was made at today’s meeting of the PFML advisory committee.) The current rate is 0.6%, which is the maximum base rate allowed by statute. The 0.8% rate includes […]
October 19 , 2022 - Emily Makings
Compensation increases drive the community and technical college system’s budget request
The community and technical college system (CTCS) has requested a 2023–25 budget that would increase its general fund–state (GFS) spending by $622.9 million (39.5%). Compensation items account for 50.8% of the maintenance and policy level changes in the request. First, the request estimates that funding the Initiative 732 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for the biennium would […]
October 19 , 2022 - Emily Makings
Value of agricultural production in Washington declines in 2021 (when adjusted for inflation)
According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), the value of agricultural production in Washington was $10.233 billion in 2021. In nominal terms, that’s just barely up from $10.213 billion in 2020. Adjusted for inflation, the value dropped by 3.5% in 2021. From 2011 to 2021, the value of Washington’s agricultural production increased by 7.8%. […]
October 18 , 2022 - Emily Makings
K–12 budget request includes major staff compensation increases, elimination of the special education funding cap
For 2023–25, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is asking for a $6.565 billion increase to its general fund–state (GFS) budget. This would be an increase of 25.3% over 2021–23. (Adjusted for inflation, the increase would be 18.7%. That’s on par with spending increases made in response to the McCleary decision on school […]
October 17 , 2022 - Kriss Sjoblom
October report on state tax collections: revenues for the month exceeded forecast by $126 million
On Friday the state’s Economic and Revenue Forecast Council (ERFC) issued its monthly report on general fund revenue collections. This report covers payments received between September 11 and October 10 for the sales tax, the use tax, the business and occupation tax, the public utility tax, the tobacco products tax, and penalties and interest (collectively […]