The House Republican proposal for a 2021–23 operating budget would appropriate $55.352 billion from funds subject to the outlook (NGFO). That would be a reduction from the maintenance level (the cost of continuing current services, adjusted for enrollment and inflation) of $760.0 million.

Major NGFO policy additions in the 2021–23 proposal include:

• $200.0 million for the working families tax credit
• $100.0 million for rental assistance
• $150.0 million for distribution to local health jurisdictions for foundational public health
• $98.6 million to extend temporary COVID-19 rate increases for providers through CY 2021
• $39.7 million for the primary care provider rate
• $33.3 million for behavioral health inpatient treatment capacity
• $72.0 million to restore savings that have not been realized from program integrity activities
• $30.8 million to restore “a portion” of savings that have not been realized in the Healthier Washington program
• $119.0 million for the shared benefit adjustment rulemaking
• $130.0 million for fire preparedness and forest health
• $23.1 million for emergency food assistance
• $44.0 million for Harborview Medical Center

Major NGFO policy savings include:

• -$121.0 million because the federal government has extended disproportionate share hospital funding to FY 2024
• -$279.1 million by assuming that the enhanced federal Medicaid match remains in place through CY 2021 (Gov. Inslee’s proposal does not assume the higher match)
• -$41.5 million by delaying the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) entitlement from SY 2022–23 to FY 2027
• -$43.4 million from closing five civil wards at the state hospitals
• -$118.3 million from eliminating the National Board bonus for teachers in SY 2020–21 and SY 2021–22
• -$137.2 million from reducing state-supported higher education tuition waivers by 25% (this would be replaced with tuition paid by students)
• -$92.6 million by reducing higher education staffing so that the number of exempt staff per 1,000 students is down to the FY 2008 ratio
• -$58.0 million by reducing the maximum employer contribution rate for higher education retirement plans to 5% (from an average of 8.5%)
• -$733.0 million from merging the Law Enforcement Officers’ and Firefighters’ Retirement System (LEOFF) Plan 1 and the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) Plan 1 (this would reduce the TRS 1 unfunded liability)

Last week I gave an overview of the House Republican operating budget proposal and earlier this week I compared their proposed 2021 supplemental to those of Senate Republicans and Gov. Inslee. The chart below compares the three proposals for 2021–23 by budget area.