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Senate Reforms: Consolidated School Employee Benefits

Another of the reforms in the Senate’s proposed 2012 supplemental is SSB 6442, which would establish a consolidated purchasing system for public school employee health benefits. (It was passed by the Senate Ways and Means Committee Feb. 23.)

Senate Reforms: Education Funding

As I mentioned yesterday, the newly proposed Senate supplemental includes several reforms.  These include SB 6618, which would repeal Initiatives 728 and 732.  (The bill has seen no action in the legislature so far.)

Highlights of the New Senate Supplemental Proposal

Today Senate Republicans, along with three Democrats, proposed a new 2012 supplemental budget.  It would close the $1 billion remaining budget problem through a familiar formula of new revenue, fund transfers, and spending reductions.  The proposal would leave reserves of $437.4 million (more than in the version that passed the House March 8, but less […]

WSJ: "States Keep Axes Sharpened"

Yesterday marked the beginning of a special session of the legislature, in which legislators must balance the 2011-13 budget.  In today’s Wall Street Journal, a reminder that Washington is not alone in this: State governments are confronting a combined $47 billion gap between projected revenue and costs for the fiscal year that starts in July, […]

Medicaid Fraud Legislation

On March 8, before the regular session ended, the legislature passed ESSB 5978, which creates a Medicaid fraud false claims act.  Its enactment was assumed by the 2012 supplemental budget that passed the Senate, as well as the second House-passed supplemental.  It is estimated to reduce 2011–13 revenues by $4.9 million.

February 11 – March 10 state revenue collections were $7.7 million less than forecast

The monthly collections report is out today. The headline number is not too bad: “Major General Fund-State revenue collections for the February 11 – March 10, 2012 collection period were $7.7 million … lower than the February forecast." However, the underlying detail is weaker than the headline: "Revenue Act collections for the current period came […]

Special legislative session should build sustainable budget

The special session of the Legislature convening today is expected to get off to a slow start. Brad Shannon has a good preview in the Olympian. The job before them hasn’t changed in months. The biggest chore is breaking the political stalemate over closure of a $1 billion budget gap. The goal eluded the Legislature […]

Outlook for 2013-15 Under March 8 House Supplemental Budget

I have put together a rough “outlook” for the 2013–15 biennium based on the supplemental budget passed by the House on March 8. I also have refined the outlooks that I posted four days ago based the supplemental budgets passed on February 29 by the House and on March 3 by the Senate. These projections […]

Balance Sheet Comparison of Most Recent House-Passed Budget to Earlier House- and Senate-Passed Versions

Here is a balance sheet comparison of the budget passed by the House yesterday (March 8) to those passed by the House on February 29 and the Senate on March 3:

Quick Look at the Hunter Striker

As mentioned earlier today in our policy brief on the House and Senate supplemental budgets, the House Ways and Means Committee chair, Rep. Hunter, has proposed a striking amendment to the Senate bill.  It would reduce appropriations by less and leave a lower ending balance than either the House or Senate bill. Like the House, […]