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 […]
8th of May 2020
Washington’s counties and cities will get $296.6 million of the state’s federal aid funds
The state Department of Commerce has announced how federal relief funds will be distributed to Washington’s local governments. Under the federal CARES Act, our state government received $2.167 billion in COVID-19-related aid. King, Pierce, Snohomish, and Spokane counties and the city of Seattle split another $786 million from the federal government. Of the $2.167 billion, […]
1st of May 2020
Washington has $31.0 million left of state funds appropriated for COVID-19 response
The Office of Financial Management (OFM) has made another round of distributions of the state and federal funds appropriated in EHB 2965 for COVID-19 response. They are: $11.7 million from the general fund–federal (GFF) for the Department of Health “for costs associated with the state and local government response to the coronavirus outbreak in Washington.” […]
28th of April 2020
Washington will give $300 million of federal relief funds to localities (and other federal allocations have been announced)
The CARES Act provided $2.953 billion for Washington and the counties and cities in our state that have populations over 500,000. (The table provides an estimate of how the funds will be allocated.) The funds must be used for new spending related to COVID-19 response. (Treasury has allowed some flexibility in the use of the […]
23rd of April 2020
Of funds appropriated by Washington for COVID-19 response, $46.6 million left
In March the Legislature appropriated $200 million from the rainy day fund for COVID-19 response. Of that, $175 million was appropriated to the disaster response account (DRA). (The rest went to a new unemployment account.) The bill specified that the Office of Financial Management (OFM) will use the $175 million plus $25 million from the […]
22nd of April 2020
How easy is it for Washington to tap the rainy day fund?
Washington’s rainy day fund, the budget stabilization account (BSA), was established in the state constitution in 2008 (Article VII, section 12). Under the constitution, withdrawals may be made from the BSA at any time, for any reason, with a three-fifths majority vote of each house of the Legislature. BSA funds may be withdrawn with a […]
20th of April 2020
How will state and local budget shortfalls be addressed?
The National Association of Counties estimates, “The COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to impact county budgets by over $144 billion through fiscal year 2021.” Additionally, Large counties with over 500,000 residents would see the largest increase in expenditures and the largest decrease in revenue, amounting to an approximately $83 billion impact. However, small counties with […]
15th of April 2020
Reductions in treasury service fee could save state agencies $13 million
Last year state Treasurer Duane Davidson reduced the treasury service fee from 0.32 percent to 0.25 percent. Now, to help the state during the downturn, he has reduced the fee to 0.2 percent. Together, the reductions are expected to save state agencies $13 million. The treasurer “stated that he would consider lowering the fee even […]
14th of April 2020
More estimates of local government shortfalls, and an AG memo on local government options to help individuals and businesses during this time
Snohomish County expects a $24 million (about 10 percent) hit to its general fund budget. In response, the county is considering freezing hiring, eliminating discretionary raises, and cancelling travel and training. According to the Everett Herald, the County Council will consider two hiring freeze ordinances tomorrow: One would last through the end of the year and […]