Preliminary revenue loss estimates for King County, and how will the county use its federal aid funds?
At a committee meeting May 5, the King County Council heard about potential revenue losses over the next few years. Dwight Dively of the Office of Performance, Strategy and Budget said that an interim revenue forecast expects that over three years (through 2022), King County’s sales tax revenues will decline by $79 million for the […]
14th of May 2020
Fraudsters attack state unemployment insurance system
Employment Security Department Commissioner Suzi LeVine today reported that the state unemployment insurance system has suffered a rash of fraudulent claims” Since the start of May – and particularly in the past week – the Employment Security Department has seen a significant rise in reports of impostor fraud. This is where bad actors have stolen […]
In Washington 212,962 filed for unemployment insurance last week
This morning the state Employment Security Department (ESD) gave its weekly report on unemployment insurance claims. ESD reported a total of 212,962 initial claims for unemployment insurance during the May 3–May 9 week. Of this total, 109,425 initial claims were under the regular unemployment insurance program; 55,911 claims were under the federal pandemic unemployment assistance […]
Federal coronavirus relief fund payments made to Washington governments; prospects uncertain for next relief package
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has made the payments to states and certain local governments required by the CARES Act’s coronavirus relief fund. The $2.953 billion paid to governments in Washington must be used for new spending related to COVID-19 response. It cannot be used to cover revenue shortfalls. The federal government made direct […]
CARES Act funds for Washington’s school districts
The CARES Act (one of the federal relief bills) included a $30.75 billion education stabilization fund. Of that, Washington received $216.9 million for elementary and secondary schools. Districts will receive $195.2 million of that allocation. The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction has announced how much will go to each school district, based on an […]
Nationwide, 2,981,000 filed for unemployment insurance last week
The U.S. Department of Labor issued its weekly report on initial claims for unemployment insurance this morning. Nationwide, the number of seasonally adjusted claims was 2,981,000 last week. This is 195,000 less than the (upwardly revised) number of claims for the previous week, 3,176,00. The 4-week moving average of seasonally adjusted claims was 3,616,500, down […]
13th of May 2020
Washington has $9.2 million left of state funds appropriated for COVID-19 response
The Office of Financial Management (OFM) has allocated $21.9 million to the University of Washington from the funds appropriated by the Legislature for response to COVID-19. This round of funds will go to UW Medicine “to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.” (In the first round of distributions on March 18, UW received $10.0 million for […]
Gov. Inslee to freeze hiring, personal services contracts, and equipment purchases; agencies asked to identify savings of $1.9 billion
Today Gov. Inslee directed state agencies to refrain from hiring, signing non-essential personal services contracts, and purchasing equipment. The freeze is effective May 18. (Some exceptions are noted in the directive.) It’s not clear how much the freeze is expected to save. The governor directed this freeze because “the State’s revenue situation warrants immediate fiscal […]
12th of May 2020
88,570 paycheck protection loans have been approved for Washington businesses, and could more local news organizations become eligible?
Updated data from the Small Business Administration (SBA) shows that Washington businesses received $12.354 billion in loans through May 8 under the paycheck protection program. From May 1 to May 8, the number of loans to Washington businesses increased by 7,861 and their amounts increased by $352.7 million. As of May 8, the program has […]
$1 trillion for state and local governments?
Gov. Inslee, House Speaker Laurie Jinkins, and Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig have signed onto a letter asking Congress to provide “$1 trillion in direct and flexible relief to states and local governments.” The letter continues, “Though even this amount will not replace the decline in revenue that we forecast, it will make a meaningful […]