More on the Special Session Agreement

By: Emily Makings
12:00 am
December 10, 2010

The House Democrats have released the full list of reductions in the agreement that legislators and the Governor came to yesterday.  I have added these proposals to my spreadsheet comparing the different ideas; it can be accessed here:

Reduction Comparison 12.10.10

The agreement cuts DSHS, Natural Resources and Legislative by less than any of the proposals from the Governor, the Senate Republicans and the House Democrats.  For example, the House Democrats wanted to cut Legislative by $4 million, the Senate Republicans wanted to cut it by $8 million, and the agreement cuts it by $3 million.

Levy equalization is left alone (as proposed by the House Democrats).  All told, the agreement reduces spending by $490 million; the FY2011 shortfall is $1.1 billion.

For a sense of the magnitude of the problem compared to other states, read this Wall Street Journal article.

Categories: Budget , Categories.