Budget

Increased employee compensation and provider rates make up almost half of proposed new policies for 2023–25

Under Gov. Inslee’s proposed 2023–25 operating budget, appropriations from funds subject to the outlook (NGFO) would increase by $4.854 billion to fund new policies. (The cost of continuing current services is expected to increase by an additional $1.401 billion.) Many of the new policy proposals are related to employee compensation or increasing the rates paid […]

Governor’s 2023–25 budget proposal would increase NGFO funding for new policies by $4.854 billion

As I noted on Wednesday, Gov. Inslee’s 2023–25 operating budget proposal would increase appropriations from funds subject to the outlook (NGFO) by 9.8%, or $6.255 billion. That includes the maintenance level plus new policies. (The maintenance level is the cost of continuing current services, adjusted for enrollment and inflation.) Under the governor’s proposal, the NGFO […]

Gov. Inslee’s 2023–25 operating budget proposal would increase NGFO spending by 9.8%, use WRPTA

Gov. Inslee proposes increasing 2023–25 appropriations from funds subject to the outlook (NGFO) by 9.8% over enacted 2021–23 appropriations. Appropriations would total $70.380 billion for the biennium. The governor’s budget would not increase taxes. (Since the current budget was adopted, the NGFO revenue forecast has increased by $3.078 billion over the 2021–23 and 2023–25 period.) […]

November revenue forecast improves the balance sheet, but how will inflation impact state costs?

The November revenue forecast increased the estimates of revenues from funds subject to the outlook (NGFO) compared to the September revenue forecast, as Kriss reported. Compared to the Feb. 2022 forecast, on which the current operating budget is based, NGFO revenues are now expected to be up $3.078 billion over 2021–23 and 2023–25. The 2023–25 […]

Adjusting the NGFO balance sheet for the most recent information on revenues and spending indicates an estimated $150 million shortfall in 2023–25

David Schumacher, director of the Office of Financial Management, has tried to get state agencies to manage their expectations for the 2023–25 operating budget. And rightly so: we estimate that the balance sheet for the biennium is already in a negative position. When the Legislature adopted the 2022 supplemental to the 2021–23 biennial budget, it […]

November caseload forecast is estimated to increase spending by about $103 million in 2021–23 and $602 million in 2023–25

The Caseload Forecast Council (CFC) adopted a new caseload forecast last week. This forecast will help inform the maintenance level (the cost of continuing current services, adjusted for inflation and enrollment) for the governor’s budget proposal. According to a preliminary cost estimate from the Office of Financial Management, the forecast is estimated to increase general […]

A new forensic hospital may crowd out other 2023–25 capital budget spending

Appropriations from all funds in the 2021–23 capital budget (as amended by the 2022 supplemental) are 54.7% higher than in 2019–21. That’s the largest increase in capital budget spending going back to at least the mid-1990s. Bonds make up a significant percentage of capital budget resources; thus, the capital budget is constrained by the constitutional […]

Managing budget expectations

Last week, David Schumacher, the director of the Office of Financial Management (OFM), gave the Washington State Senior Citizens Foundation a preview of the upcoming budget cycle. He attempted to tamp down expectations of another big-spending year. This welcome reminder comes after agencies have submitted substantial operating budget requests for 2023–25 (my overview is here; […]

Compensation increases drive the community and technical college system’s budget request

The community and technical college system (CTCS) has requested a 2023–25 budget that would increase its general fund–state (GFS) spending by $622.9 million (39.5%). Compensation items account for 50.8% of the maintenance and policy level changes in the request. First, the request estimates that funding the Initiative 732 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for the biennium would […]

K–12 budget request includes major staff compensation increases, elimination of the special education funding cap

For 2023–25, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is asking for a $6.565 billion increase to its general fund–state (GFS) budget. This would be an increase of 25.3% over 2021–23. (Adjusted for inflation, the increase would be 18.7%. That’s on par with spending increases made in response to the McCleary decision on school […]