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Bill to repeal tax preferences threatens jobs and investment

In the closing days of the legislative session, a HB 2762, a bill “to periodically expire all nonconstitutionally required tax preferences that are not already subject to expiration” may be getting new life. It passed out of House Ways and Means Committee March 3, on a party-line vote. What “to periodically expire” means is that on […]

The Outlook for 2013-15 Under the House and Senate Supplemental Budgets

I have put together rough “outlooks” for the 2013–15 biennium based on the supplemental budgets passed by the House and the Senate. These projections follow closely that prepared by the Office of Financial Management of Gov. Gregoire’s November supplemental proposal, with adjustments for the specifics of the House and Senate budgets. The one deviation I […]

Billions of dollars in new taxes if preferences are repealed

HB 2762, the subject of an earlier blog post today, would repeal tax preferences worth $3.7 billion in the current biennium. Small businesses, farms, corporations, nonprofits, churches, transit agencies, cities and counties … too many groups to list here .. would all face tax increases. For some, the increases are fivefold. See this 8-page list for scheduled repeal […]

Let negotiations begin: Senate Democrats release budget, look for 25th vote.

This morning Senate Ways and Means Chair Ed Murray released his caucus’s vision of a go-home budget. It cuts less than the plans advanced by the governor and by House Democrats. Higher education and K-12 spending absorbs no new cuts. Murray acknowledged two important concerns: He’s not sure he has the 25 votes he needs […]

Balance Sheet for the House Ways and Means Committee Supplemental Budget

Here is a balance sheet for House Ways and Means Committee passed supplemental budget:

House Ways and Means Committee Passes Supplemental Budget

On Saturday the House Ways and Means Committee reported out, with amendments its Chair’s proposed supplemental budget. (Here is our brief on the Chair’s Proposal.) The amendments increased spending by $64.4 million (General Fund-State, Education Legacy Trust and Opportunity Pathways Accounts combined [NGFS+]) from total in the Chair’s proposed budget and reduced the projected ending […]

New Brief: House Ways & Means Chair's Proposed 2012 Supplemental

On Tuesday, Rep. Hunter released his proposed 2012 supplemental budget.  Our brief on the proposal is available here.

Charts comparing Hunter and Gregoire supplemental budgets

I have prepared two pie charts that allow a comparison of Rep. Hunter’s supplemental budget proposal to the “Book 1” supplemental budget that Gov. Gregoire released in November. By the governor’s reckoning at that point in time, the state faced a shortfall of nearly $2 billion in the general fund–state budget for the remainder of […]

The Alexander Striker

This afternoon, Rep. Alexander has proposed a striking amendment to PSHB 2127, the House Ways and Means Committee Chair’s proposed 2012 supplemental.  (I discussed the chair’s proposal in a post earlier today.) Alexander’s striker defines the budget problem as being $1.593 billion (near general fund-state plus opportunity pathways, NGFS+).  It is larger than the Chair’s […]

House Chair's Proposed Supplemental

Today Rep. Hunter, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, released his proposed 2012 supplemental budget.  The budget overview document describes the near general fund-state plus opportunity pathways (NGFS+) budget problem as being $1.472 billion (including reserves totalling $504 million). This problem statement takes into account significant maintenance level savings and a positive February […]