Today is the first day of state fiscal year 2017, which is the second year of the 2015-17 biennium.

Norton Francis at the Tax Policy Center (a joint venture of the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution) writes, "The fiscal year wraps up today in most states and, unlike some past years, most have enacted budgets on time."

Indeed, in Washington at this time last year, the 2015-17 operating budget passed at practically the last minute on June 30, but the Legislature still hadn't finished its budget-related work. This year, the Legislature passed a 2016 supplemental operating budget in March.