Budget

Washington received an estimated $2.743 billion from the enhanced federal match for Medicaid

During the pandemic, the federal government has been providing an enhanced federal match for Medicaid. Typically, the federal government pays for 50% of Medicaid spending in Washington, and the state covers the other half. (A higher match is in place for some Medicaid clients, pursuant to the Affordable Care Act.) The enhanced pandemic federal medical […]

House operating budget would shift federal relief money previously appropriated for learning loss to special education

The enacted 2021–23 operating budget appropriated $553.1 million from the federal elementary and secondary school emergency relief (ESSER) fund to address pandemic learning loss. This money is mostly from the third ESSER round, which must be spent by Sept. 2024. Washington’s school districts received $1.668 billion from the third round and the Office of Superintendent […]

On OSPI’s monitoring and accounting of federal relief money

The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC) has found that the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) has “not yet established processes to monitor districts’ efforts to address the academic effects of restricted in-person instruction or outcomes of emergency spending”—despite federal and state requirements to that effect. School districts in Washington received three […]

The enhanced federal Medicaid match will phase down and end on Dec. 31

The federal fiscal year 2023 consolidated appropriations act (passed by Congress on Dec. 23 and signed by the president on Dec. 29) includes a final deadline for the enhanced federal match for Medicaid that has been in place since early in the pandemic. Because this enhanced federal match supplants state funds for Medicaid, Washington has […]

School districts in Washington have spent 52% of their federal relief money; of the amount spent, 44.5% is categorized as “indirect” or “other”

Last week the Seattle Times editorial board wrote about recent student test scores and asked why so much of the federal relief money for schools is still unspent. Further, it wrote, “It’s puzzling to examine school district spending choices so far.” There were three rounds of federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER). Washington […]

State Supreme Court: Property insurance doesn’t cover business income lost due to COVID shutdowns; property tax refund cases must be filed in the collecting county

The state Supreme Court released two notable decisions today. The first is about insurance coverage of business income that was lost due to the state’s COVID shutdowns in 2020. The second is about where property tax refund cases must be filed. 1. COVID shutdowns did not trigger property insurance coverage of lost business income because […]

New data on how Washington’s governments are using federal relief funds

Last month, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released the first quarterly report on the use of Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) through Dec. 2021. Only entities that received more than $10 million or have population over 250,000 are required to report quarterly. (In Washington, that includes the state, 21 counties, and […]

Including federal relief, state spending increased by 27.1% in 2019–21 and 28.7% in 2021–23

The increase in appropriations from funds subject to the outlook (NGFO) in the 2022 supplemental operating budget is historically large. But that doesn’t include the influx of federal relief funds related to the pandemic. On top of the $64.125 billion in NGFO appropriations for 2021–23, federal relief appropriations for 2021–23 came to $8.931 billion in […]

Twenty-four towns in Washington declined general federal relief money

Crosscut is running a nice series on the federal COVID relief money in Washington. An item from last month was about how six Washington cities did not claim their shares of the coronavirus state and local fiscal recovery fund (SLFRF). Some of these small towns said they refused the money because they had not racked […]

After the 2022 supplemental budget, Washington has about $145.6 million left of general federal COVID relief

The coronavirus state fiscal recovery fund (CSFRF) is the most flexible of the federal COVID relief money. The state of Washington received $4.428 billion from the CSFRF. (The funds must be obligated by Dec. 31, 2024 and spent by Dec. 31, 2026.) Last year, the Legislature appropriated $102.6 million of the CSFRF as part of […]