Budget

Public schools spending makes up 47.5 percent of 2015-17 budget

As we’ve noted, Gov. Inslee signed the 2015-17 operating budget last night. The budget appropriates $18.157 billion for public schools — a $2.894 billion (or 19.0 percent) increase over 2013-15. This represents 47.5 percent of the budget (it was 45.2 percent of the 2013-15 budget). The Senate summary of the budget notes that spending is […]

Policy changes in the operating budget (as passed) — including deferral of I-1351

Yesterday the Legislature released the details of its 2015-17 operating budget deal and passed the budget bill. As passed, the bill appropriates $38.219 billion (near general fund-state plus opportunity pathways) for the biennium. Maintenance level changes increased spending by $5.360 billion over 2013-15, and policy level changes reduced spending by $934.5 million — for a […]

Operating budget details released

The numbers behind the 2015-17 operating budget deal have finally been released. In terms of near general fund-state plus opportunity pathways (NGFS+) spending, the deal would appropriate $38.219 billion — $4.425 billion more than in 2013-15 (and slightly more than the last House and Senate proposals). The Senate summary of the provisions is here, and […]

Promoting tourism, statewide

In 2011, Washington’s state tourism office was closed, making Washington the only state without one. The Washington Tourism Alliance (WTA) was formed by industry to take up the slack. From a 2014 report to the Legislature: In the two years since the state closed the tourism office, the travel and tourism industry has managed to […]

Dueling op-eds on the budget proposals

The Seattle Times has op-eds from both the House and the Senate on their 2015-17 operating budget proposals. Reps. Ross Hunter and Reuven Carlyle and Sen. Andy Hill provide an overview of the differences between the chambers, as seen by the primary budget writers. (See here for a more inside-baseball take from Rep. Hunter.) Hunter […]

Rep. Hunter on the budget and education finance

Rep. Ross Hunter, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, has a very interesting blog post about what is going on in the budget negotiations and education finance. As Hunter shows, there are a number of issues that must be resolved. If you’re interested in either topic, I highly recommend it.

The Health Benefit Exchange and the 2015-17 budget

Both the House and Senate 2015-17 operating budget proposals would provide additional funding for the Health Benefit Exchange (HBE). As I’ve written, the HBE budget depends partially on its enrollment numbers, which were not as high as the HBE had hoped. Along with the 2 percent tax on premiums, other sources of income are a […]

New brief: 2015-17 Operating Budget: Spending Priorities

We have a new policy brief comparing the House- and Senate-passed operating budgets. Briefly: A better economy is expected to bring in an additional $3 billion in revenue. The House-passed budget increases spending by more than $5 billion over 2013– 15. The Senate-passed budget increases spending by more than $4 billion over 2013– 15. Policy […]

Carbon taxation in the offing?

Apparently some form of carbon taxation could still happen this year, despite the fact that it did not make it into either House or Senate budget proposal. It was a main source of revenue in Gov. Inslee’s proposed budget, but the House proposal would increase revenues in different ways. From Crosscut: House Environment Committee chair […]

Renovations for Seattle's PacMed Center costlier than anticipated

Interesting story from the Seattle Times on the saga of the PacMed Center in Seattle. (It’s the lovely and a bit imposing building that sits atop the hill just south of I-90 and east of I-5.) It fell on hard times after Amazon left in 2011, and in 2013 the state decided to lease it […]