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Tag: budget cuts

Typical Year at WSP

Typical Year at WSP

It was a typical year for both of the Washington State Penitentiary (WSP) Branch Libraries, the East-Complex (EC) and the West-Complex (WC). In January 2011, our newest Library Associate, Molly Mooney had been on the job for 4 months.  Her training was going well and she enthusiastically participated in special projects:  working with our ILS Wiki pages and Library-Snapshot day.  In March the WC was open full-time again for the first time since February of 2010 and everyone was happy. …

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High Hopes for 2012

High Hopes for 2012

  2011 saw many changes at the Airway Heights Corrections Center (AHCC). The institution changed to a closed movement facility and this has had a dramatic impact on library attendance. From what was a full library most movements has changed to about half our normal capacity.   We started the year out with a Library Snapshot Day. Everyone had a blast and the atmosphere here was full of excitement. In February DOC started to make changes to increase security and for…

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Special session adjourns after trimming budget $480m

Special session adjourns after trimming budget $480m

Washington lawmakers have adjourned their unprecedented 17-day November-December emergency session designed to start trimming the state budget to size. But they won’t be gone for long.  The regular 2012 session, supposedly limited to 60 days, is just around the corner — Jan. 9. The Democratic-controlled Legislature didn’t do the complete $2 billion budget-and-tax deal that Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire had strongly recommended when she called the session.  They gave strong bipartisan agreement to a plan, House Bill 2058, that begins…

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Donation from Muckleshoot Tribe is greatly appreciated in these tough times

Donation from Muckleshoot Tribe is greatly appreciated in these tough times

 In these tough times it can be hard to stay positive. We wait for budget cuts to decide our fates and hope that book budgets will not disappear and libraries will not close.  However, there are encouraging things that are happening.  Not only did the inmates from Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW) donate $1000 to their library, we received a $3000 donation from the Muckleshoot Native American Tribe for the library at Washington Corrections Center (WCC).  This donation has…

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The gathering storm

The gathering storm

During the holiday season, the Capitol Campus usually is as quiet as a college library during finals. Not this year, and especially not this week. At least 3,000 protesters were expected to assemble on campus to hold rallies as the Legislature convened Monday for a special session to try to fix a $2 billion state budget gap. Most of the protesters are worried about proposed cuts to state programs and services, including social and health services, public schools and higher…

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Gregoire proposes sales tax hike, budget cuts

Gregoire proposes sales tax hike, budget cuts

Gov. Chris Gregoire has proposed a $2 billion all-cuts rewrite of the ailing state budget, along with a plan to ask the voters to OK a three-year state sales tax hike of a half-cent to head off some of the cuts. The Democratic governor said the Legislature already has slashed the state budget by $10 billion in the past three years, “shredding” the state safety net and whacking K-12, higher education and other areas.  She said her latest list of…

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WA lawmakers button down hard-times session

WA lawmakers button down hard-times session

Washington lawmakers are heading back to their home districts after completing a brutal recession-era 135-day session.  Budget cutbacks, including salaries of state employees and teachers and budgets of virtually every area of government, were the rule of the day as lawmakers grappled with a budget gap of billions. Cuts and freezes totaling $4.6 billion will affect K-12, higher education, “safety  net” programs, and a variety of state services, from parks to prisons.  The $32 billion two-year budget takes effect July…

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Gov signs emergency budget cuts

Gov signs emergency budget cuts

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire has signed the Legislature’s $360 million plan for emergency budget cuts to help the state weather the next four months.  She vetoed the plan for a 3 percent pay cut for non-union state employees and a $1 million reduction in executive branch communications staff. The compromise budget proposal sped through both houses on Friday and the bill was rushed to the waited governor for action.  She hailed the “collaborative and bipartisan” approach to dealing with the…

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A modest uptick for WA treasury

A modest uptick for WA treasury

Amid continuing state budget angst, the state’s chief economist reported a tiny ray of sunshine Monday.  The new tax collection report for the past month is up about $24 million. That’s peanuts compared with the $5 billion budget gap that faces lawmakers, of course, and swamps the $700 million worth of spending cuts the governor and the Legislature just approved as they try to get the state’s budget back in balance.  But it’s the right direction. Arun Raha, director of…

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Tightening the belt: Gregoire orders spending cuts

Tightening the belt: Gregoire orders spending cuts

Governor Gregoire has just inked an executive order requiring most agencies and programs of Washington state government to trim their sails some more.  The actual percentage — in the 4-to-7-percent range — will be filled in by the state budget office after the new revenue forecast is released on Thursday morning. The cuts, which take effect Oct. 1, will apply to all programs without a constitutional protection, such as basic aid-to-education, bond debt service and pensions, or federal entitlements.  A…

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