Blog

State must pay for hepatitis C drugs, regardless of budget impact

Last week a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction requiring the Health Care Authority (HCA) to cover hepatitis C drugs for all Medicaid clients with the disease — regardless of the drug's cost or how ill the patients are. As the Seattle Times notes, there is a relatively new hepatitis C drug that costs about $95,000 for […]

The AG on the Legislature's McCleary report (plus, the alternative budget outlook has been released)

Yesterday the Legislature filed its report to the state Supreme Court on its progress toward complying with the McCleary decision on education funding. (The report was approved last week.) Also yesterday, the attorney general filed a memo with the Court asking it to lift its contempt order and end sanctions. The AG's memo argues that E2SSB […]

A new budget outlook, and a discussion of McCleary costs

The Economic and Revenue Forecast Council (ERFC) met today to adopt a new budget outlook. There was a lot of discussion, with members getting into questions about how much the remaining McCleary pieces will cost and whether they should be accounted for in the four-year outlook. (Here are the meeting materials.) Ultimately, the ERFC adopted the outlook that […]

The 2016 Legislature's report on its McCleary progress

Yesterday the Joint Select Committee on Article IX Legislation met and approved its 2016 report to the state Supreme Court. Since 2012, this committee has been providing annual reports to the Court regarding the Legislature's progress toward complying with the McCleary decision. The 2016 report argues that in enacting E2SSB 6195,  the Legislature has complied with […]

Vetoes increase 2016 supplemental appropriations by $43.5 million

The state has released updated spending numbers for the 2016 supplemental operating budget, incorporating the governor's vetoes. The vetoes increase near general fund-state plus opportunity pathways (NGFS+) spending by $43.5 million over the supplemental appropriations that were passed by the Legislature in March. A new budget outlook reflecting the changes made in the 2016 supplemental […]

Moody's: In case of recession, Washington is one of the best-prepared states

Last week, Moody's evaluated the ability of certain states to deal with a potential recession in the coming years. They looked first at the country's four most populous states and found that Texas is better prepared than Florida, New York, and California. The report took a less in-depth look at the 20 most populous states; […]

Building long-term thinking into the budget process

George Mason University's Mercatus Center has a new report this week looking at state budget institutions. Spending growth can contribute to significant fiscal stress, requiring difficult adjustments when large budget gaps arise. Unfortunately, short-term thinking often dominates the adjustment process so that legislators frequently make choices—such as underfunding pension obligations—that improve the short-term fiscal outlook […]

Some perspective on the governor’s budget vetoes

As I wrote yesterday, Gov. Inslee vetoed a provision of the supplemental 2015–17 operating budget that would have diverted funds from the public works assistance account (PWAA) in 2017–19. Consequently, the budget as signed by the governor does not balance over four years. I wanted to provide some more context today. First, it’s important to […]

Gov. Inslee signs supplemental operating budget, vetoes several provisions

Today Gov. Inslee signed 2ESHB 2376 (the 2016 supplemental operating budget) and ESHB 2988 (which makes appropriations from the budget stabilization account for wildfire costs). The governor vetoed several provisions of the supplemental. A big one has to do with the public works assistance account (PWAA). Section 935 of the supplemental notes that it is […]

What good is the four-year balanced budget requirement?

Over the weekend, the Olympian editorialized against the four-year balanced budget requirement. It’s typical that Washington’s Legislature strains to get its work done on time when there is divided government. It also strains mightily when economic downturns force cuts or tax increases. Both have been in play in recent years, accounting for a surge in […]