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Tag: Rep. Ross Hunter

Budget leaders: 320 million reasons to avert shutdown

Budget leaders: 320 million reasons to avert shutdown

Relieved budget writers say Washington should be able to avoid a government shutdown, after getting the year’s best revenue news, new, more robust revenue projections and a $90 million reduction in expected caseload costs. State budget Director David Schumacher and budget writers from both houses and both parties said the $320 million one-day windfall should break the Olympia logjam that had threatened to trigger a partial government shutdown if no budget were produced by June 30.  Senate budget Chairman Andy…

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Revenue update: `Flat is the new up’

Revenue update: `Flat is the new up’

A new Washington revenue forecast was what passes for good news at the beleaguered state Capitol: at least things didn’t get worse. Lawmakers and the new governor still have a potential budget gap of several billion dollars, including court-mandated K-12 funding. Some old Olympia hands had expected a sizable new drop in expected revenue for the next 27 months, perhaps in the $200 million range, but the number from chief economist Steve Lerch was up $40 million. The forecast for…

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WA revenue forecast plunges another $1.4 billion

WA revenue forecast plunges another $1.4 billion

Economic recovery seems “like a mirage in the desert” and Washington’s economic forecast has been chopped by another $1.4 billion. Will there be a special session of the Legislature? The grim news came at a meeting at the Capitol of the bipartisan Economic and Revenue Forecast Council.  House budget chief Ross Hunter said lawmakers now face the the prospect of slicing perhaps $2 billion out of a $30 billion budget that has been repeatedly “scrubbed” during the Great Recession. State…

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