Budget

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 […]

Including federal relief funds, 2019–21 spending in the Senate W&M chair’s operating budget would increase by 33% over 2017–19

The Senate W&M chair’s operating budget proposal would appropriate $52.701 billion in 2019–21 and $59.215 billion in 2021–23 from funds subject to the outlook (NGFO). Those amounts represent increases of 17.9% and 12.4% over the previous biennium, respectively. However, they do not include the federal relief funds the state has received and will receive. According […]

Washington’s state and local governments will have more than $11 billion in federal relief funding to distribute from the ARP Act

There are several funding buckets in the ARP Act. The largest that will be distributed by states and local governments are the fiscal relief funds and the emergency and secondary school emergency relief funds. But there’s also funding for childcare, transit, and rental assistance, for example. The table below shows known and estimated federal allocations […]

Public health funding would push Washington’s share of the federal relief bill over $10 billion

As I wrote earlier this week, the American Rescue Plan Act that was passed by the U.S. House on Saturday would send billions of dollars to Washington (if enacted). Two major pieces of the legislation are the coronavirus state and local fiscal recovery funds (sec. 5001). The Tax Foundation estimates that, if the bill is […]

Federal COVID aid bill would send billions to Washington (including some that could replace lost revenue)

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the aid package proposed by President Biden. The $1.9 trillion price tag includes many different pots of money. Jerry Cornfield of the Everett Herald reports that federal grants to Washington would increase by at least $7.6 billion under the bill. I don’t think that figure includes the bill’s […]

More relief funds headed out the door; rainy day fund balance historically high

Today Gov. Inslee signed three bills related to federal relief funds: SHB 1095 specifies that federal and state grants for businesses that address “the impacts of conditions giving rise to” official emergencies are not subject to the business and occupation tax, the public utility tax, or the retail sales and use tax. (For example, businesses […]

Hold harmless funding has been proposed for school districts; beware the potential bow wave

In Washington, most K–12 funding is tied to enrollment. Because K–12 caseloads decreased in the current school year (due to the pandemic and remote learning), maintenance level spending (the cost of continuing current services, adjusted for enrollment and inflation) is expected to decrease as well. Gov. Inslee proposes booking those savings. But Representatives Dolan and […]

Washington has over a billion dollars from the latest round of federal relief funding to distribute; how should such funds be dealt with in the future (if the Legislature is not in session)?

Washington has received billions of dollars in federal COVID relief funding since the Legislature adjourned last year. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has been tracking the federal relief dollars. They estimate that state and local relief funding for Washington is up to about $6.43 billion. (That includes, for example, the coronavirus relief fund, […]

Public higher education institutions in Washington will receive $329.5 million from federal COVID relief bill passed last month

The federal CARES Act (enacted in March 2020) included a Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEER I) Fund, which provided relief funding directly to public and private higher education institutions. The CARES Act generally required institutions to use 50% of their allocations for student financial aid grants. According to the U.S. Department of Education, public and […]

House and Senate Democrats propose spending $164.3 million from the rainy day fund and would direct how to spend $2.425 billion of federal funding

Friday afternoon Democrats in the House and Senate announced their early action relief bills (HB 1367 and HB 1368, and companion bills SB 5343 and SB 5344). Together, the bills would appropriate $2.589 billion from state and local funds ($164.3 million from the rainy day fund and $2.425 billion in federal funds). Of that, $403.6 […]