A post at Politics Northwest this afternoon highlights the Governor’s suggestion that June K-12 payments be delayed until July, as a way to save $240 million in FY2011 (more on the Governor’s proposed reductions here):

Educators and staff would still get paid on time. It’s essentially a budget trick that would allow the state to avoid some cuts over the next few months. Gregoire would need approval from the state Legislature to take the action.

“Yes it’s a gimmick, and yes I despise it,” she said. “But the fact is I can’t get there without doing it.”

This gives me the opportunity to highlight a perennial budget trick at the federal level that doesn’t get enough attention: shifting corporate estimated tax payments from the sixth year of the ten-year budget window to the fifth.  It often pops up at the end of the calendar year, when Congress is trying to pass a number of bills extending expiring provisions.  Effectively, this shift makes the five-year revenue numbers positive.  (For example, take a look at the Congressional Budget Office estimate for H.R. 4284, which extended a few trade preference programs last December.)

This sort of thing is why it is important to always pay attention to the yearly numbers for a proposal–not just the five year sum.  As Washington’s budget shortfall is addressed, all possible options will have to be on the table.  Watch for shifts like this.  They help in the short run, but they certainly don’t solve the long-term problem.