Yesterday the House Appropriations Committee amended and approved several budget-related bills. (This follows House Finance action on some of these bills last week.)

HB 2159, as approved by Appropriations, would appropriate $42.3 million from the budget stabilization account (BSA, or the rainy day fund) in 2017–19 for fire suppression costs. (Originally, the bill would have appropriated $38.9 million.)

HB 2163, as originally proposed, would transfer $58.4 million from the BSA in 2017–19 to the general fund–state (GFS) “for the support of K–12 education.” (As we note in our brief on the House- and Senate-passed operating budgets, this is meant to pay for hold harmless payments to school districts.) The Appropriations Committee approved an amended version of the bill that would transfer an additional $58.4 million from the BSA to the GFS in 2017–19 “for the support of career and technical education equipment grants.” Thus, a total of $116.8 million would be transferred out of the BSA by the bill. The bill specifies that both these transfers are of extraordinary revenue growth the state is expected to experience this biennium (and that will be transferred to the BSA pursuant to the constitution). It is currently estimated that extraordinary revenue growth in 2017–19 will total $1.760 billion. The Legislature previously directed the transfer of $1.078 billion of that back to the GFS. If HB 2163 is enacted, the Legislature will have spent all but $565.2 million of the 2017–19 extraordinary revenue. (In our recent brief on Washington’s budget sustainability requirements, we describe the Legislature’s use of extraordinary revenues and other funds in the BSA.)

SHB 2157 was approved by the House Finance Committee last week. It would make some changes to tax preferences and reauthorize the tax structure workgroup. Appropriations approved the bill with one amendment related to how the income threshold for the property tax exemption for seniors would be adjusted in the future.

P2SHB 1873 would impose a 37 percent excise tax on vapor products. As approved by the committee, it would increase GFS revenues by $3.5 million in 2019–21 and $7.9 million in 2021–23.

SSB 5734 would extend the hospital safety net program through July 1, 2023. Through the program, funds from heath care provider charges are currently used by the state to pay for Medicaid hospital services, garnering federal matching funds for the state. Under current law, the state may use $292 million of these funds in 2019–21 for Medicaid hospital services in lieu of GFS dollars. The bill, which has already been passed by the Senate, would allow for the use of $292 million in 2021–23 as well.

SHB 2158, the bill that would impose a “workforce education investment” B&O tax surcharge on certain businesses to fund higher education and career connected learning programs, was not acted on by the committee.