Gov. Gregoire announces next steps for state budget
For Immediate Release: August 12, 2010
OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire today announced steps to address a potential shortfall in the current state budget and directed agencies to prepare for the expected budget gap in the 2011-13 biennium.
“Thanks to the incredible hard work of Washington state’s delegation, especially Sen. Murray, we dodged a bullet and have avoided across the board cuts for now,” said Gregoire. “But our state budget remains under stress. To be fiscally responsible, we must transform the way we provide services and take action now to prepare for potential shortfalls.”
Due to legislation passed by Congress this week to send emergency state aid to states, including Washington, the need for any drastic cuts to be taken immediately was narrowly averted. In addition, agency and department savings from across all of state government implemented last year has yielded $89 million in savings to the state budget. Over the last three years, the state has cut $5.1 billion in state spending. This has come in the form of service reductions, facility closures and the laying off of thousands of public employees.
Over the last two months however, revenue collections have been $125 million below expected amounts and the state today has an ending fund balance of $72 million for the 2009-11 biennium. If the upcoming September forecast or a later revenue report comes in less than expected, the state could be faced with a shortfall that eliminates the ending fund balance, which would necessitate further action, likely across the board cuts.
The state is also currently projected to face a $3 billion deficit for the next two year budget.
To prepare for the upcoming two-year budget and be ready for any immediate action that needs to be taken to correct the current budget, Gregoire today announced that she would direct state agencies to:
• Prepare reductions of 4-7 percent for the possibility of across the board cuts starting October 1st if the next forecast or revenue receipts are lower than expected.
• Prepare budget reductions for a supplemental budget for the last six months of the current biennium equal to $500 million statewide to be passed in January.
• Draft 2011-2013 budgets to prepare for the expected $3 billion shortfall which will require a 10 percent reduction in the expected general fund budget.
“By necessity, government must be smaller. We must make a dramatic shift in what can be expected of state government,” said Gregoire. “Essential services for those most in need must continue, but it must be done as efficiently as possible. As we put together a budget that reflects our values, we will demand performance out of every program. The recovery will be long and bumpy, but we will survive this crisis and we will emerge stronger.”
For more information on the Governor’s budget process, please visit http://governor.wa.gov/priorities/budget/default.asp.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Good News on the FMAP Extension
Yesterday, the Senate cleared a major procedural hurdle and is expected to vote later this week on a bill that provides $26 billion dollars in aid to states. The bill includes an extension of the increase in the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) of $16.1 billion for Medicaid and $10 billion in education funding intended to prevent teacher layoffs. Speaker Pelosi announced that she would be calling House Members back next week from the August recess to vote on the bill. The House of Representatives must pass the exact same bill to send it to the President for his expected signature.
The bill is fully paid for but it reduces the amount of federal support for FMAP from the $24 billion that would have been available under previous versions of the extension. The provision would phase out the enhanced FMAP during the six-month period from January 2011 through June 2011, providing states with a 3.2 percentage point increase in the second quarter of fiscal year 2011 and a 1.2 percentage point increase in the third quarter of FY 2011.
The DPC has actively supported the FMAP extension and the education funding as they are both critically needed to prevent harmful cuts to services and schools. However, we are concerned that it is partially paid for by scaling back future food stamp benefits which serve many people with disabilities.
If you have any questions, please contact Julie Ward.
The Arc
1660 L Street, NW, Suite 301
Washington, DC 20036
p. 202.534.3700 | f. 202.534.3731
www.thearc.org
The bill is fully paid for but it reduces the amount of federal support for FMAP from the $24 billion that would have been available under previous versions of the extension. The provision would phase out the enhanced FMAP during the six-month period from January 2011 through June 2011, providing states with a 3.2 percentage point increase in the second quarter of fiscal year 2011 and a 1.2 percentage point increase in the third quarter of FY 2011.
The DPC has actively supported the FMAP extension and the education funding as they are both critically needed to prevent harmful cuts to services and schools. However, we are concerned that it is partially paid for by scaling back future food stamp benefits which serve many people with disabilities.
If you have any questions, please contact Julie Ward.
The Arc
1660 L Street, NW, Suite 301
Washington, DC 20036
p. 202.534.3700 | f. 202.534.3731
www.thearc.org
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Special session ruled out: Gregoire faces across-the-board cuts
Special session ruled out: Gregoire faces across-the-board cuts
BRAD SHANNON; Staff writer | • Published August 03, 2010
The U.S. Senate again delayed a key vote on giving $25 billion more medical- and school-funding aid to the states Monday. Meanwhile, Democratic leaders in Washington state ruled out holding a special legislative session to fix budget holes related to the lack of federal aid.
Gov. Chris Gregoire had set a noon Monday deadline for Democratic leaders in the state House and Senate to say whether they could bring their caucuses to town for a short special session. Without the federal help that the U.S. Senate might give, she fears a $300 million deficit that requires immediate cutting of spending.
Even so, her spokeswoman Karina Shagren said Gregoire hasn’t announced a decision on how to bridge the looming budget gap.
“We’ll see what Wednesday brings,” Shagren said. “The governor is working with other governors to see that a vote gets taken Wednesday and it gets pushed through.’’
The alternative to a special session is having Gregoire, a Democrat, order cuts of up to 4 percent that fall across the board – nicking prisons, health care, higher education and other programs equally.
The Republican minority in the statehouse says across-the-board cuts are a terrible way to cut the budget, but majority Democrats say it is quicker and politically easier than bringing lawmakers to town in an election season when agreements are harder to reach.
“My personal view is we should continue to do the across-the-board cuts – cuts that could only last from now until we go back into session in January,” House Ways and Means chairwoman Kelli Linville, D-Bellingham, said Monday by telephone. “I think going into special session, there is no guarantee there will be any agreements.”
“We believe that the governor should first take across-the-board cuts and not call a special session. To methodically go through and do selective cuts would require time. And somehow in the middle of the campaign session I’m not sure that’s the best reason,’’ added state Sen. Ed Murray, the Senate Democratic Caucus chairman from Seattle. “I think it would be a completely politicized situation” in a special session.
Indeed, House and Senate Democrats run the risk of aiming for a special session of a few days, then watching their caucuses blow apart in disagreements that drag out for the full 30 days that the state constitution allows for a special session. That’s pretty much what happened in April after majority Democrats failed to complete a revenue package and budget during their 60-day regular session. Hopes for a quick deal disappeared as lawmakers battled for 30 days to find agreement, and aides to Gov. Gregoire say she doesn’t want to see that again.
But Republicans say across-the-board cuts hit worthy programs just as hard as those that can afford reductions – with Sens. Mike Hewitt and Joe Zarelli saying in a letter to Gregoire last week that cuts would hit the developmentally disabled, for instance, at the same rate as they hit tourism programs.
“The lawmakers who have led us into this deficit should have the guts to step up and solve it, not pass off their responsibility to someone else,” House Republican Leader Richard DeBolt of Chehalis said in a statement he released Thursday after talking with Gregoire and other legislative leaders. “Budget writers should develop a plan for balancing the budget and then hold a one-day special session to put us on a course of responsible and sustainable state spending.”
Republican Rep. Gary Alexander of Thurston County said he’s willing to lay out some specific ideas for cuts – including dropping the eligibility limit for the Basic Health Plan, perhaps reducing the so-called Disability Lifeline help, and considering cuts to such programs as all-day kindergarten and coaching for math. Alexander said he also would consider allowing state payments to family members that care for their ailing relatives instead of paying extra to home-health workers.
“It’s not correct to assume Republicans are going to vote no on anything they come up with. I know Sen. Zarelli and I have said if we can participate in the process, then it’s very likely we’ll be looking for some support” for budget-cutting legislation, Alexander said. “I know the Democrats aren’t going to like some of the suggestions we put on the table.’’
The budget dispute would be averted if Congress acts. The U.S. Senate is considering an extension of federal medical assistance funding for the states that totals about $16.1 billion, or two-thirds what an earlier bill would have provided, and another $10 billion in aid for schools to avert teacher layoffs.
The Senate action, which was delayed to Wednesday from Monday, would in effect rescue roughly 30 other states – which, like Washington, counted on the aid in their budgets – from having to make new cuts.
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said she has met national Republicans’ objections about the extra spending by offering an amendment that pays for it using unspent money already allocated to the federal government. But Sen. Mitch McConnell, the U.S. Senate minority leader from Kentucky, complained in a floor speech Monday that the spending on teachers would create “a permanent need for future state bailouts.”
McConnell called the aid a “brazen attempt” to push more money to public employee unions and set up massive tax hikes at the end of the year.
Even if the Senate approves H.R. 1586, which previously passed the U.S. House, it goes back to the other chamber for final approval.
Under the proposal, Washington state receives about $528 million including about $320 million in medical aid and $208 million in school aid, according to Murray spokesman Matt McAlvanah. He said the school aid could spare up to 3,000 jobs in public schools.
Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2010/08/03/1323850/no-quick-fix-for-state-budget.html#ixzz0vYpFWOQ7
BRAD SHANNON; Staff writer | • Published August 03, 2010
The U.S. Senate again delayed a key vote on giving $25 billion more medical- and school-funding aid to the states Monday. Meanwhile, Democratic leaders in Washington state ruled out holding a special legislative session to fix budget holes related to the lack of federal aid.
Gov. Chris Gregoire had set a noon Monday deadline for Democratic leaders in the state House and Senate to say whether they could bring their caucuses to town for a short special session. Without the federal help that the U.S. Senate might give, she fears a $300 million deficit that requires immediate cutting of spending.
Even so, her spokeswoman Karina Shagren said Gregoire hasn’t announced a decision on how to bridge the looming budget gap.
“We’ll see what Wednesday brings,” Shagren said. “The governor is working with other governors to see that a vote gets taken Wednesday and it gets pushed through.’’
The alternative to a special session is having Gregoire, a Democrat, order cuts of up to 4 percent that fall across the board – nicking prisons, health care, higher education and other programs equally.
The Republican minority in the statehouse says across-the-board cuts are a terrible way to cut the budget, but majority Democrats say it is quicker and politically easier than bringing lawmakers to town in an election season when agreements are harder to reach.
“My personal view is we should continue to do the across-the-board cuts – cuts that could only last from now until we go back into session in January,” House Ways and Means chairwoman Kelli Linville, D-Bellingham, said Monday by telephone. “I think going into special session, there is no guarantee there will be any agreements.”
“We believe that the governor should first take across-the-board cuts and not call a special session. To methodically go through and do selective cuts would require time. And somehow in the middle of the campaign session I’m not sure that’s the best reason,’’ added state Sen. Ed Murray, the Senate Democratic Caucus chairman from Seattle. “I think it would be a completely politicized situation” in a special session.
Indeed, House and Senate Democrats run the risk of aiming for a special session of a few days, then watching their caucuses blow apart in disagreements that drag out for the full 30 days that the state constitution allows for a special session. That’s pretty much what happened in April after majority Democrats failed to complete a revenue package and budget during their 60-day regular session. Hopes for a quick deal disappeared as lawmakers battled for 30 days to find agreement, and aides to Gov. Gregoire say she doesn’t want to see that again.
But Republicans say across-the-board cuts hit worthy programs just as hard as those that can afford reductions – with Sens. Mike Hewitt and Joe Zarelli saying in a letter to Gregoire last week that cuts would hit the developmentally disabled, for instance, at the same rate as they hit tourism programs.
“The lawmakers who have led us into this deficit should have the guts to step up and solve it, not pass off their responsibility to someone else,” House Republican Leader Richard DeBolt of Chehalis said in a statement he released Thursday after talking with Gregoire and other legislative leaders. “Budget writers should develop a plan for balancing the budget and then hold a one-day special session to put us on a course of responsible and sustainable state spending.”
Republican Rep. Gary Alexander of Thurston County said he’s willing to lay out some specific ideas for cuts – including dropping the eligibility limit for the Basic Health Plan, perhaps reducing the so-called Disability Lifeline help, and considering cuts to such programs as all-day kindergarten and coaching for math. Alexander said he also would consider allowing state payments to family members that care for their ailing relatives instead of paying extra to home-health workers.
“It’s not correct to assume Republicans are going to vote no on anything they come up with. I know Sen. Zarelli and I have said if we can participate in the process, then it’s very likely we’ll be looking for some support” for budget-cutting legislation, Alexander said. “I know the Democrats aren’t going to like some of the suggestions we put on the table.’’
The budget dispute would be averted if Congress acts. The U.S. Senate is considering an extension of federal medical assistance funding for the states that totals about $16.1 billion, or two-thirds what an earlier bill would have provided, and another $10 billion in aid for schools to avert teacher layoffs.
The Senate action, which was delayed to Wednesday from Monday, would in effect rescue roughly 30 other states – which, like Washington, counted on the aid in their budgets – from having to make new cuts.
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said she has met national Republicans’ objections about the extra spending by offering an amendment that pays for it using unspent money already allocated to the federal government. But Sen. Mitch McConnell, the U.S. Senate minority leader from Kentucky, complained in a floor speech Monday that the spending on teachers would create “a permanent need for future state bailouts.”
McConnell called the aid a “brazen attempt” to push more money to public employee unions and set up massive tax hikes at the end of the year.
Even if the Senate approves H.R. 1586, which previously passed the U.S. House, it goes back to the other chamber for final approval.
Under the proposal, Washington state receives about $528 million including about $320 million in medical aid and $208 million in school aid, according to Murray spokesman Matt McAlvanah. He said the school aid could spare up to 3,000 jobs in public schools.
Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2010/08/03/1323850/no-quick-fix-for-state-budget.html#ixzz0vYpFWOQ7
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