Blog

What do school districts mean when they say they’ll be worse off under new funding system?

Several school districts have expressed concern about the state’s new method of funding public schools (as enacted in EHB 2242; here’s our report on the bill). As Melissa Santos reports in the News Tribune, District officials in Tacoma, Olympia and Seattle say they’ll face budget deficits under the state’s new school funding plan, with some […]

New special report: Has the State Finally Closed the Book on McCleary?

In a new special report, we dig in to EHB 2242, the education funding bill passed by the Legislature this session. Briefly: The Legislature has enacted EHB 2242 to continue its response to the McCleary decision. From 2011–13 to 2017–19, state funding for public schools has increased by $8.419 billion (62.1 percent). In 2019–21, the […]

Taking vetoes into account, the budget doesn’t balance over four years (plus, a note on minimum wage disemployment effects)

The Legislature passed a 2017–19 operating budget that balanced over four years; an outlook prepared for the compromise indicated unrestricted ending fund balances of $985 million in 2017–19 and $42 million in 2019–21. But those figures were based on the proposed compromise—they didn’t include any changes made by Legislators prior to voting on the budget on June […]

Studying the studies in the budget

Tucked into the $43.7 billion operating budget are several requirements for studies and audits. They didn’t make it into our overview of the budget, but I thought some are worth highlighting: A work group is formed in the House of Representatives “to facilitate public discussions throughout the state regarding Washington’s tax structure.” This may include […]

New brief: Legislature Passes 2017–19 Operating Budget That Increases Spending by $5.3 Billion

In a new policy brief, we provide an overview of the 2017-19 operating budget, as passed by the Legislature on June 30. Briefly: The Legislature has passed a 2017–19 operating budget that appropriates $43.707 billion. This is an increase in NGFS+ appropriations of $5.254 billion or 13.7 percent over 2015–17. Revenues are estimated to increase […]

The operating budget compromise included a reduction of the B&O tax rate for all manufacturers—will it be signed by the governor?

In order to balance the operating budget, the Legislature passed two bills that will increase revenues by an estimated $2.070 billion in 2017–19 and $3.358 billion in 2019–21.  The Legislature also passed SSB 5977, which includes 13 tax changes that are estimated to reduce revenues by $15.7 million in 2017–19 and $81.8 million in 2019–21. (There […]

Gov. Inslee signed the operating budget but vetoed several provisions

A new fiscal year (2018) and a new biennium (2017–19) began on Saturday, July 1, but it doesn’t feel much like a fresh start. For one thing, the third special session is still alive. Legislators will return to work on the capital budget. Also, we’re still digesting the operating budget bill, since it was publicly […]

Policy changes in the compromise budget versus those passed in March

The Senate has passed the compromise 2017-19 budget. If enacted, spending will increase by $5.254 billion (near general fund-state plus opportunity pathways) over 2015-17. Of that, about $2.071 billion is at the policy level. The chart below (click on it for a larger version) shows how the policy changes are distributed throughout the budget and compares […]

2017–19 operating budget compromise would appropriate $43.7 billion

Budget negotiators reached an agreement on the operating budget for 2017–19 Wednesday morning, but details were not made public. The Senate Ways and Means Committee will have an executive session on the budget and other bills today at 8 am, and the budget must be passed and signed by the end of today. This tight […]

There may be support for proposed online sales tax, but could Washington actually collect any revenues?

The 2017–19 operating budget that was passed by the House earlier this year assumes enactment of several new taxes. These include requiring remote sellers, marketplace facilitators and referrers to collect and remit sales taxes on online purchases made by Washington residents or report the sales to the Department of Revenue (so that it could then […]