New Brief: Senate-Passed Bill Would Overhaul and Increase School Funding
Last week we published a policy brief on Gov. Inslee's education funding proposal and HB 1843 (which has since been passed by the House). Today we have a new brief on SSB 5607, the Senate-passed education funding bill. Briefly: The Senate has passed SSB 5607 in response to the McCleary decision. The bill would fund […]
February 16 , 2017 - Emily Makings
New Brief: Education Funding Plans: The Governor and House Want Significant New Spending
In a new policy brief we discuss Gov. Inslee's plan to comply with the McCleary decision on school funding as well as HB 1843, which was passed by the House Appropriations Committee earlier this month. Briefly: The Legislature must fully comply with the McCleary decision on school funding by September 2018. Both Gov. Inslee’s education […]
February 15 , 2017 - Mary Strow
February 07 , 2017 - Mary Strow
January 30 , 2017 - Emily Makings
More details from the Senate Majority’s education funding bill
The language behind the Senate Majority Coalition’s education funding plan has been released as SB 5607. On Saturday I wrote about the general aspects of the plan, based on the summaries provided by the Coalition. I read through the bill itself today and found more items of interest, plus some clarifications. The new funding structure. […]
January 28 , 2017 - Emily Makings
Highlights from the new education funding proposal
[Update 3:49pm — Legislative language has now been released — see here.] As Mary noted yesterday, the Senate Majority Coalition has released its education funding plan. This comes after the Republicans on the Education Funding Task Force offered only “guiding principles,” and the EFTF could not agree on recommendations to the Legislature. (For background on all of […]
January 27 , 2017 - Mary Strow
Senate Republicans' K-12 education funding plan is here
This morning, state Senate Republicans (aka the Senate Majority Coalition Caucus) released their plan for fully funding K-12 education and complying with the state Supreme Court McCleary ruling. They are calling it the "Education Equality Act." You can read the overview and a more detailed list of components below. No legislation is posted yet. We'll provide you […]
January 24 , 2017 - Emily Makings
The return of I-1351
As I wrote earlier, I-1351 is scheduled to become effective in 2019–21—within the four-year budget window. Plus, Gov. Inslee has proposed beginning to implement the initiative early, in 2017–19. Over the weekend, The News Tribune ran a good story about the costly initiative’s prospects this session. Like the governor, some legislators want to implement I-1351; […]
January 24 , 2017 - Emily Makings
A new budget outlook, and possible budget process changes
Yesterday the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council adopted a four-year budget outlook based on Gov. Inslee’s proposed 2017–19 operating budget. According to the outlook, his proposal would leave a near general fund–state plus opportunity pathways (NGFS+) unrestricted ending balance in 2019–21 of negative $2.041 billion (and total reserves would be negative $596 million). Meanwhile, the […]
January 09 , 2017 - Mary Strow
2017 Legislative Session Starts Today
The state Legislature begins its 2017 session today. This being an odd-numbered year, session is scheduled to last 105 days, with an April 23 adjournment date. Almost nobody believes lawmakers will finish their business by then, however, in which case the governor can call a special session (or a series of special sessions as the […]