State general fund revenues are $434.6 million (22.5 percent) less than forecast in February, according to the May collections report. About $200 million of this drop is due to deferrals of tax payments, which are expected to be collected before July. This is the first revenue data we have that includes effects of the downturn. However, the report covers collections on taxable activity that generally occurred in March and earlier, so lost taxable activity in April is not accounted for. (Gov. Inslee issued the stay home order on March 23.)

Anticipating reductions in state revenues, Gov. Inslee ordered a freeze on state hiring, signing non-essential personal services contracts, and purchasing equipment. He also asked many state agencies to identify $1.874 billion in savings, which would represent 6.8 percent of the state’s FY 2021 budget.

Initial and continuing claims for unemployment insurance in Washington increased for the week of May 3–9. Continuing claims totaled 1,088,602. From March 1 to May 9, the total number of private sector claims is 28.6 percent of February employment, and education services had the greatest number of claims as a share of February employment in the most recent week of data.

There is a caveat to the UI data: The Employment Security Department reported a “significant rise” in reports of fraud in the system. This means that the claims data is overstating the number of people who have lost their jobs, but it’s not yet clear by how much.

Finally, Gov. Inslee and others have asked Congress for $1 trillion for state and local governments (on top of the relief funds that have already been appropriated.) On Friday, the U.S. House passed a new relief bill. The HEROES Act includes flexible relief funds for state and local governments, but it is not expected to move in the U.S. Senate.