Budget

To reduce administrative burden, Treasury’s final rule for the coronavirus state & local fiscal recovery fund includes a $10 million standard allowance for the revenue loss provision

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has released the final rule for the coronavirus state & local fiscal recovery funds (SLFRF). (An overview is available here.) The SLFRF is $350 billion in federal relief that was appropriated as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. This is a fairly flexible pot of relief money. It […]

NGFO and federal relief appropriations in Gov. Inslee’s supplemental operating budget would be 16.1% above 2019–21; other federal relief would be appropriated in capital and transportation budgets

Appropriations from funds subject to the outlook (NGFO) in Gov. Inslee’s supplemental operating budget would be 18.2% over 2019–21. At the same time, his operating budget proposal would increase appropriations of federal COVID relief. Together, NGFO and federal relief appropriations in the operating budget proposal would be 16.1% over 2019–21 (after increasing by 35.2% in […]

New data from OSPI shows how school districts are using federal relief funds (20% has been spent so far)

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) has created a useful spreadsheet showing how school districts have used their federal Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds. It includes claims processed through Nov. 2021, and it will be updated going forward. (The spreadsheet can be accessed from this page.) The federal government appropriated […]

Notes from the Ways & Means work session: Bank tax revenues, CBA costs, and one city’s rejection of federal relief funds

On Monday, the Senate Ways & Means Committee held a work session that included several items of fiscal interest. (The meeting can be watched here.) First, Dr. Lerch of the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council gave an update on the economic outlook. That day it was announced that with the November collections report, revenues have […]

Federal relief funds to governments, businesses, and individuals in Washington now total over $100 billion

Federal COVID relief that has been allocated for Washington’s governments, businesses, and individuals now totals $101.7 billion. Of that, $75.4 billion has gone or will go to businesses and individuals and $26.3 billion is flowing through our state and local governments. (This money will be spent over several years. For context, state and local governments […]

Through July 31, addressing negative economic impacts was the largest planned use of federal fiscal recovery funds for Washington and its most populous local governments; little had actually been spent

Washington state and its largest local governments have spent very little of their Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds so far, according to performance reports filed at the end of August. Meanwhile, funding to address negative economic impacts accounts for nearly half of planned expenditures (across all reporting governments). The American Rescue Plan Act […]

Federal relief funds to governments, businesses, and individuals in Washington total more than $93 billion so far

I’ve updated our table of federal COVID relief that has been allocated for Washington’s governments, businesses, and individuals. The relief now totals $93.6 billion. Of that, $67.3 billion has gone or will go to businesses and individuals and $26.3 billion is flowing through our state and local governments. This funding will be spent over several […]

Businesses that lost 25% of revenues last year may ask for property tax deferrals under bill signed today

Today Gov. Inslee signed ESHB 1332. The bill requires county treasurers to grant due date extensions for property taxes payable in 2021 for businesses that lost at least 25% of their revenue from leasing or renting the property or from their business activities at the property in CY 2020 (compared to CY 2019). Requests for […]

Including federal relief funds, the spending increases in the operating budget proposals are extraordinarily high

As I showed yesterday, the state has already allocated or appropriated $7.311 billion in federal relief dollars. On top of that, the Senate-passed operating budget would appropriate $6.837 billion and the House-passed operating budget would appropriate $8.776 billion in federal relief over three years. This relief funding does not just maintain state spending (as the […]

Senate- and House-passed budgets would appropriate $8.426 billion and $10.166 billion, respectively, in federal relief funding

Federal COVID relief legislation since March 2020 has appropriated more than $24 billion that has flowed or will flow through Washington’s state and local governments. Allocations from the latest bill, the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act, are still being determined, so the $24 billion figure will grow. (Indeed, note that the numbers in this post […]