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The state has appropriated over $400 million related to the Blake decision

On Tuesday, the Legislature held a special session to pass 2E2SSB 5536, a drug policy bill that is in response to the 2021 state Supreme Court decision in State v. Blake. (The Court held that the state’s drug possession law was unconstitutional because the state did not have to prove intent in order to convict.) […]

Appropriations for public schools make up 10.1% of the capital budget

The 2023–25 capital budget (as passed by the Legislature) includes $871.5 million for public schools. Capital appropriations for schools account for 10.1% of total appropriations in the budget. The budget includes: Note that the $871.5 million includes $4.0 million for preconstruction grants and administrative implementation of SHB 1044, which would create a new school construction […]

Housing funding in the operating and capital budgets

Last week Gov. Inslee signed several housing policy bills. The Seattle Times reports, “Washington will now allow multifamily housing in many more neighborhoods, encourage people to develop accessory dwelling units, and streamline development regulations, among other policies. The overarching effort to smooth regulatory barriers, like zoning and permits, to building housing garnered bipartisan support.” The […]

May report on state tax collections: revenues for the most recent month were $16.4 million less than the amount forecasted

Friday the state’s Economic and Revenue Forecast Council (ERFC) issued its monthly report on general fund revenue collections. This report covers payments, mostly received in April, from monthly, quarterly and annual filers. For monthly filers, most payments relate to economic activity in the month of March. The total amount received this month was $2,401.3 million, […]

State will save $2.473 billion over five years by reducing contributions to unfunded pension liabilities (even as the pension plans are still fully funded)

A major source of state savings throughout the budget outlook window is a policy change related to unfunded pension liabilities. The state has been making extra contributions towards unfunded actuarial accrued liabilities (UAAL) in the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) plan 1 and the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) plan 1. There is a minimum contribution […]

Document recording fees: A backfill, a simplification, and an addition

The state imposes four document recording surcharges to help fund housing programs. As I wrote last year, the revenues from these surcharges have been falling short of estimates. The 2023–25 operating budget (as passed by the Legislature) includes funding to backfill these programs. According to the conference report summary document, $66.0 million from the general […]

Budget appropriates $200 million for a reserve for the paid family and medical leave program

Last month Gov. Inslee signed SSB 5286, which makes changes to the paid family and medical leave (PFML) program rate structure. Beginning with calendar year 2024, the PFML rate will be set to maintain a three-month reserve for the program. (See here for more about the bill.) The family and medical leave insurance (FMLI) account […]

Budget provisos related to taxes, transparency, benefits, and the economy

The 2023–25 operating budget includes many provisos on fiscally-related topics. Notably, though, it does not reauthorize the Tax Structure Work Group (TSWG). Accordingly, the last meeting of the TSWG will be May 8. However, the budget does appropriate $300,000 for a study of wealth taxes (which were considered and rejected by the TSWG). A status […]

Operating budget reduces funding for student loan program to $90 million

As I wrote a few weeks ago, the Legislature passed a bill (EHB 1823) that makes changes to the state’s not-yet-implemented student loan program. The details are still to be determined by the Washington Student Achievement Council, and loans will not be awarded until school year 2025–26. (The bill has not yet been signed by […]

Medicaid and health care affordability provisions in the budget

In the 2023 supplemental operating budget, as passed by the Legislature, maintenance level changes (the cost of continuing current services, adjusted for enrollment and inflation) increase appropriations from funds subject to the outlook (NGFO) by $400.7 million. The bulk of that ($373.8 million) is from mandatory Medicaid caseload adjustments. However, that is offset by policy […]