No new taxes supplemental budget adopted

At long last the legislature has approved a 2016 supplemental budget. Didn't have time to read the budget's 352 pages before the vote? Don't feel bad, neither did most lawmakers . . . READ MORE

All Quiet on the Western Front - Budget Edition

With the House and Senate adjourned until the 13th day of the special session (March 22), things are all quiet on the Western Front, too quiet.  As we wait for word of a supplemental budget armistice, let's take a moment to reflect on the battle lines that put us into a special session to adopt a supplemental budget . . . READ MORE

Public budget details - what, you think this is Sunshine Week?

Like most Washingtonians on day six of the special session, I'm still trying to get caught up on what happened last week when the Legislature adjourned without finishing the supplemental budget. One of the more curious complaints I heard about the new Senate budget proposal is that the details were made publicly available instead of first exchanged in secret behind closed doors as usually happens in Olympia . . . READ MORE

No supplemental budget isn't good but won't result in government shutdown

Today Governor Inslee held a press conference where he issued a blanket veto request for every bill currently on his desk and anything lawmakers send him until a supplemental budget is adopted. Under Article 3, Section 12 of the state's constitution, all bills sent to the Governor become law after a set amount of days unless they are vetoed . . . READ MORE

With two weeks to go budget debate set

An on-time finish to the 2016 Legislative Session is just two weeks away - at least we hope it is. The vastly different approaches taken by the House and Senate in their supplemental budgets, however, does cause concern whether March 10 will be the final end date. The Senate plan takes a more traditional approach for a supplemental budget focusing on tweaks to the base 2015-17 budget while House budget writers believe now is the time to make major changes . . . READ MORE

Treasurer warns lawmakers not to raid rainy day reserve

The State Treasurer's Office (STO) testified last week on HB 2968 (Using rainy day funds for K-12 classes) and warned lawmakers not to use the state's constitutionally protected reserve account for this purpose (STO testimony at 13:40). According to the bill report for HB 2968 . . . READ MORE

Lawmakers consider legislative fiscal office

The House and Senate are currently considering bills (HB 2830 and SB 5915) that would utilize a dynamic fiscal note process as well as study the creation of an independent legislative fiscal office. Both of these proposals are worth pursuing . . . READ MORE

Budget reforms needed to remove threat of government shutdown

During the last two biennia Washington has come dangerously close to a state government shutdown. The current 2015-17 budget was signed just 18 minutes before a shutdown (signed at 11:42 p.m. on June 30) while the 2013-15 budget was approved a few hours before the new budget cycle (signed at 4:20 p.m. on June 30, 2013). In both cases revenue was increasing substantially meaning these threats of government shutdowns were occurring with budgets growing significantly, not due to deficits . . . READ MORE

Evolution of 2015-17 budget proposals

After a record 176 days, the Legislature was finally able to adopt all the pieces necessary to put in place a balanced 2015-17 operating budget. The focus of this post is not to review the process used to enact the budget or policies funded in it but instead to provide a timeline of where the tax and spending debate began last December with Governor Inslee’s budget proposal to where it ended with adoption of the final 2015-17 budget . . . READ MORE

Could rule changes strengthen state's balance budget requirement?

You wouldn't know it from the fact that the days old 2015-17 budget has never been balanced and was signed into law with a $2 billion hole but Washington has one of the strongest statutory balanced budget requirements in the country. Per RCW 43.88.055 "The legislature must adopt a four-year balanced budget . . ." Now while the House did manage to pass a balanced budget, the Senate did not with most Senate Democrats refusing to vote for the suspension of I-1351 (unfunded class size reduction) as assumed by the 4yr outlook that was part of the budget deal . . . READ MORE

$2 billion hole blown in brand new 2015-17 budget

Around 11:30 p.m. last night (30 minutes before a government shutdown) Governor Inslee signed the state's 2015-17 budget. Though the new budget is only a few hours old, there is already a $2 billion cloud hanging over it. Although the House kept up its end of the budget deal by suspending the unfunded class size reduction initiative (I-1351), around 6 a.m. this morning the Senate Democrats failed to live up to the deal by refusing to vote for the suspension unless the Senate passed a different bill first . . . READ MORE

Notable budget dates

With the first special session winding down here are a few dates to pay attention to as lawmakers work to adopt the state's 2015-17 budget . . . READ MORE

New collective bargaining reform bill introduced

Today a new bill has been introduced to help bring more transparency, accountability and fiscal discipline to the negotiating process used for future state employee contracts. SB 6126 (Addressing collective bargaining) is an omnibus bill that includes many of the reform provisions from prior bills heard earlier this year. The bill has been scheduled for a public hearing on May 26 at 1:30 p.m. in Ways & Means . . . READ MORE

Will $415 million increase in forecasted revenue break budget logjam?

With not much progress to date on budget negotiations during the special session, yesterday's $415 million increase in forecasted revenue may just be what lawmakers need to wrap up their work. According to the state's Economic Revenue Forecast Council . . . READ MORE

Collective bargaining reform receives attention in special session

Today marks day one of the "special" session and public hearings are already scheduled. Among the bills up for consideration today is SB 6098: Defining financial feasibility for collective bargaining agreements. According to the bill report . . . READ MORE

Is 2002 state collective bargaining law constitutional?

On the eve of budget negotiations, Governor Inslee's budget office (Office of Financial Management) sent lawmakers a letter expressing concern with several provisions of their budgets. Among the concerns expressed . . . READ MORE

Quick review of House and Senate budgets

The budget cards are now on the table. Now we'll see if House and Senate budget negotiators can find a winning hand to get out of Olympia with a budget agreement by April 26. We're still reviewing the details of the proposals but here are a couple of first impressions . . . READ MORE

Citizens to have unprecedented time to review House budget before public hearing

Today was going to be like just any other budget rollout day in Olympia. A short press conference highlighting a summary of a budget proposal running hundreds of pages long and spending billions of dollars (not to mention potential new tax increases being proposed). Then just a few hours later Washingtonians were to be expected to have read, digested, and traveled to Olympia to offer public testimony on the proposed spending plan for their tax dollars. This facade of budget transparency and public testimony would have allowed a box to be checked for involving the citizens and then permit the budget debate to move forward . . . READ MORE

Senate bill would codify U.S. Supreme Court union ruling

The Senate Commerce and Labor Committee held a public hearing today on SB 5671: Addressing the payment of union dues by partial public employees. The bill would fully implement the ruling issued by the U.S. Supreme Court last June in its Harris v. Quinn decision. According to the Court, individuals called public employees "solely for the purposes of collective bargaining" are not subject to the 1977 Abood decision, which allows public sector unions to collect mandatory agency fees from workers as a condition of employment . . . READ MORE

Should fiscal impact of initiatives be described in ballot title?

Last November voters narrowly approved I-1351 to reduce class sizes. Although the policies proposed by I-1351 are estimated to cost $4.7 billion over the next few years, the ballot measure included no funding source to implement the policy. This means that lawmakers are now looking to suspend or refer I-1351 back to the ballot as they attempt to balance the 2015-17 budget. The slim approval of this budget-busting unfunded mandate has also lead to a robust conversation in the Legislature about potential changes to the state's initiative process . . . READ MORE