Although it is clear that state revenues will be revised downward in the June forecast, it is less clear when a special session of the Legislature might be convened to work on the problem. As Austin Jenkins of the Northwest News Network reports, some legislators are arguing for a special session in June (to get ahead of any needed cuts), while others would prefer to wait several months (to see if additional federal relief funds come through).

The Senate Republican Caucus has released a list of goals for a special session. They include:

• Providing more funding for long-term care facilities and workers.
• Having a say in how the $2.167 billion the state received from the federal coronavirus relief fund will be spent.
• Providing $500 million for small businesses.
• Changing unemployment insurance law so that layoffs related to COVID-19 are not charged to employers. (When charged to employers, the employers’ tax rates increase.)
• Extending the current 90-day deferral of workers’ compensation premiums for financially distressed businesses through the end of the year. (Additionally, “L&I should examine whether it has sufficient reserve funds to allow forgiveness of a portion of the deferred payments.”)
• Suspending rulemaking by the Department of Ecology and requiring Ecology to “expedite appeals and permitting processes to keep businesses afloat.” (During the Great Recession, Gov. Gregoire suspended all non-critical rulemaking in Nov. 2010.)
• Using the rainy day fund. (It is currently expected to hold $1.979 billion at the end of 2019–21. The actual figure will be lower when the revenue estimate is reduced in June.)
• Declaring a significant revenue shortfall to re-open public employee collective bargaining agreements (RCW 41.80.010(5)) in order to renegotiate the planned pay raises for FY 2021. (Based on this document, it looks like this could save about $283 million from funds subject to the outlook, if agreed to. During the Great Recession, in Dec. 2008, OFM determined that CBAs with state employees for 2009–11 were not financially feasible. Later, in Dec. 2010, state employees agreed to a 3 percent pay cut.)
• Repealing new policy spending that takes effect July 1. (Gov. Inslee vetoed some of the new policy spending that was adopted by the Legislature in the 2020 supplemental. Even after those vetoes, the 2020 supplemental increased policy spending by about $650 million.)
• Requiring K–12 education to return to regular classrooms as scheduled in the Fall.
• Applying “the policies enacted to ensure the continued viability of aerospace in Washington” to all manufacturers. (The document does not specify exactly what this would entail.)

Meanwhile, Jenkins notes that Democrats are considering “aid to small businesses and, potentially, codifying some of Inslee’s emergency proclamations, which have to be renewed every 30 days if they suspend portions of state law.”