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Tag: spending cuts

Senate Ds’ budget: No education cuts or sales tax hike

Senate Ds’ budget: No education cuts or sales tax hike

Majority Senate Democrats have unveiled a proposed budget that deals with a billion-dollar budget gap without cutting K-12 or higher education, or relying on a voter-approved sales tax hike. Their plan involves deferring a school support payment into the next biennium, saving $330 million; cutting spending by $356 million; adopting $31 million in new revenue; shifting $71 million in solid waste tax revenue to the General Fund from the construction budget; and capturing about $150 million in agency savings and…

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Lawmakers kick off election-year session

Lawmakers kick off election-year session

Washington lawmakers are back at work, confronting a $1.5 billion budget gap, the possibility of a tax referendum, and a number of touchy social issues, including gay marriage, marijuana, and abortion — all within the context of 2012 being the first election since redistricting. The session got off to a very quiet start at noon Monday, with few speeches and few protesters outside.  That was in marked contrast to the noisy reception lawmakers got when Occupy Olympia and thousands of…

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Gregoire proposes massive cuts for November session

Gregoire proposes massive cuts for November session

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire, responding to the state’s continuing economic woes and a huge state budget deficit, is proposing a laundry list of deep spending cuts across all areas of state government. At a televised news conference at the Capitol, she laid out ideas totaling over $3.8 billion and endorsed nearly $1.7 billion of those for the budget rewrite she’ll release in November. The governor officially issued a call for an unusual November-December emergency session of the Legislature to adopt…

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Governor calls emergency budget session for Nov. 28

Governor calls emergency budget session for Nov. 28

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire has called the Legislature into emergency special session, beginning the Monday after Thanksgiving, to deal with a gaping $2 billion hole in the two-year state operating budget. The decision, which will trigger a session that can last for up to 30 days, was expected, following a dire new revenue projection that knocked another $1.4 billion hole in the budget.   If the Legislature doesn’t raid the “rainy day” fund and provide additional reserves, the problem becomes about…

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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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More red ink: WA revenue forecast drops $778m

More red ink: WA revenue forecast drops $778m

Washington’s glacial economic recovery is still bleeding red ink.  The state Revenue Forecast Council has just cut more than $778 million from the estimate of expected tax revenue, driving the state’s projected deficit to about $5.1 billion. That compares with the current $30 billion two-year state budget.  Lawmakers have been cutting spending for the past several years and recently adopted cuts for the current fiscal year.  Budget Director Marty Brown said there is still a gap of about $200 million…

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Gregoire calls emergency budget session

Gregoire calls emergency budget session

Gov. Chris Gregoire has called Washington lawmakers into an emergency special session at 9 a.m. Saturday to deal with the state’s billion-dollar budget gap. This is apparently the first “lame duck” session the Legislature has ever had. Leaders said they have agreement on cutting $784 million, including about $200 million of across-the-board cuts previously ordered by the governor and about $200 million in federal aid-to-education. The session is permitted to last 30 days, but leaders said they’re planning on a…

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Report: WA recession over, recovery `tepid at best’

Report: WA recession over, recovery `tepid at best’

Washington’s economy is officially out of recession  — and state revenue is even growing a tiny bit. But the recovery, mirroring the national scene, is “painfully slow” and “tepid at best,” said a new Columbus Day report released by the state Economic and Revenue Foecast Council. The state’s chief economist, Arun Raha, announced that tax collections for the past month have grown $2.5 million above the September forecast.  In a two-year budget of $30 billion, that’s peanuts, of course, but…

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Bleak times: WA revenue projections plummet $1.4b

Bleak times: WA revenue projections plummet $1.4b

Washington’s expected revenues have plummeted more than $1.4 billion. Governor Gregoire will order across-the-board emergency cuts in state government spending, reportedly in the 6 percent range.  The state now has a projected deficit of about $520 million. Lawmakers and the governor already were girding for a $3 billion shortfall as they write the new two-year state budget this winter. The stunning economic news was presented by the state’s chief economist, Arun Raha, to the bipartisan legislative-administration panel called the Economic…

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Gregoire: Prepare for budget cuts and more cuts

Gregoire: Prepare for budget cuts and more cuts

Governor Gregoire is directing state agencies to make plans for possible spending cuts in the 4-to-7 percent range, beginning Oct. 1. Gregoire, sounding very sober despite a recent infusion of over a half-billion dollars in federal aid, told a Capitol news conference Thursday the cupboard is nearly bare, with this fiscal year’s projected ending fund balance now down to just $72 million (out of a $31 billion two-year budget).  As noted a day earlier, state tax receipts are lagging below…

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