Blog

The cost of Washington’s new child care bill will bow wave, but capital gains tax revenues aren’t needed to fund it

The Seattle Times has a story today about the Fair Start for Kids Act, which the Legislature passed this year, and a new national report that gives Washington high marks for early childhood policies—and other general income policies (including paid family leave and a high state minimum wage). According to the Times, regarding the Fair […]

How fast is federal relief being used?

Earlier I wrote that federal relief for Washington’s governments, businesses, and individuals now exceeds $100 billion. Some of the funding for governments is fairly flexible—for example, the coronavirus state and local fiscal recovery funds. I reviewed reporting by the most populous governments in Washington on how they are spending those funds here. Little had been […]

Washington reduced K–12 spending in 2021 for enrollment reasons—not due to a revenue shortfall

In June, the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO) released the Spring 2021 edition of the Fiscal Survey of States report. NASBO reports that 18 states reduced net general fund spending in mid-year FY 2021; 12 of those states specified that the “cuts were made in response to a revenue shortfall.” Washington reported net […]

Washington already has sufficient revenues to fund its paramount duty, and then some

Yesterday Kriss wrote about the version of the capital gains tax bill that the House passed this week. The intent section of the bill states, The legislature finds that it is the paramount duty of the state to amply provide every child in the state with an education, creating the opportunity for the child to […]

Washington’s public K–12 schools will receive $1.853 billion from ARP Act (on top of $1.042 billion previously appropriated by Congress)

The American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act includes $122.7 billion for a third round of the elementary and secondary school emergency relief (ESSER) fund. These funds are very flexible, but 20% of the ESSER III funds must be used to address learning loss. From this third round, Washington will receive $1.853 billion. Of that, $1.667 billion […]

Hold harmless funding has been proposed for school districts; beware the potential bow wave

In Washington, most K–12 funding is tied to enrollment. Because K–12 caseloads decreased in the current school year (due to the pandemic and remote learning), maintenance level spending (the cost of continuing current services, adjusted for enrollment and inflation) is expected to decrease as well. Gov. Inslee proposes booking those savings. But Representatives Dolan and […]

Bill would tax wireless devices to purchase computers for students and teachers

HB 1450 would tax the sale of smart wireless devices to fund the purchase of computers and “associated peripheral devices” for students and teachers. (The bill was heard by the House Committee on Education this morning.) The bill would levy a tax on each retail sale of smart wireless devices in Washington. If the selling […]

Public higher education institutions in Washington will receive $329.5 million from federal COVID relief bill passed last month

The federal CARES Act (enacted in March 2020) included a Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEER I) Fund, which provided relief funding directly to public and private higher education institutions. The CARES Act generally required institutions to use 50% of their allocations for student financial aid grants. According to the U.S. Department of Education, public and […]

How the pandemic is affecting public school funding in Washington and elsewhere in the U.S.

A New York Times article last week looked at public school funding issues related to the pandemic. The new federal aid bill, which was signed by the president on Sunday, includes $54.3 billion for the elementary and secondary school emergency relief (ESSER) fund. (That’s on top of $13.5 billion for this purpose that was part […]

New report: School Funding: Accounting for the Billions Spent in Response to McCleary

In response to the McCleary decision, and as part of the Legislature’s adopted school funding reforms, state spending on public schools increased $14.244 billion or 110.0 percent from 2009–11 to 2019–21. Over the same period, all other state spending increased by just 52.0 percent. In addition to increasing spending, the Legislature increased the state property […]