The legislature released a proposed 2012 supplemental budget today (PSSB 5883 or PSHB 2058).  As we discussed in our brief on the governor’s proposed supplemental, the state has about a $2 billion problem to solve.  Legislators don’t propose getting anywhere near that figure during the special session.  Instead, they would begin by cutting the problem by $479.7 million.

To get there, they would reduce expenditures by $322.9 million (near general fund-state plus opportunity pathways), make fund transfers totalling $106.2 million, and enact SB 5994 (which allows unclaimed securities to be sold by the Department of Revenue as soon as possible, rather than waiting three years) to increase revenue by $50.6 million in FY 2012.  (The revenue proposal is one of the options the governor included in her list of revenue increases that would require only a majority of the legislature to enact.)

For the most part, the legislative proposal does not make the big program cuts that the governor did, but the cuts it does make are mostly included in the governor’s proposal.  Unlike the governor, legislators do not currently propose to eliminate the Disability Lifeline medical programs or the Basic Health Plan, or to release offenders early.  They would not fund Initiative 1163 (the long-term care training and certification initiative passed in November).  They don’t reduce school days, shift apportionment funds, or reduce levy equalization.  They don’t cut higher education spending.

Like the governor, the legislative proposal would delay implementation of the Involuntary Treatment Act, re-purpose Old Main at Walla Walla, change school enrollment reporting requirements, and shift school bus depreciation payments.

Below is a comparison of the expenditure reductions made in each proposal.  Clearly, the legislature will have a lot to do in the regular session next year.