Governor Jay Inslee released his proposed budget for the 2015-17 biennium this morning.

Under the governor’s plan, the state would spend $38.99 billion from the NGFS+ accounts during 2015-17. The represents a 15.4 percent increase from current NGFS+ appropriations for the 2013-15 biennium. (The NGFS+ combines the general fund-state, the education legacy and the opportunity pathways accounts.)

The most recent forecast pegs NGFS+ revenue for the 2015-17 biennium at $36.98 billion. The governor’s plan for bridging the $2 billion gap between revenues and expenditures includes a new tax on capital gains, fees on industries that emit carbon dioxide, higher taxes on cigarettes and e-cigarettes, elimination of certain tax preferences, and transfers from a number of dedicated accounts to the general fund-state. The governor’s plan would also transfer $450 million from the rainy day fund to the general fund and draw down NGFS+ reserves by $147 million.

Highlights of the governor’s proposal are available through this OFM web page. We will have more to say after we have had time to fully digest the details.