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Tag: Washington budget crisis

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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New Elway Poll shows majority support for tax hike

New Elway Poll shows majority support for tax hike

A new statewide Elway Poll by independent pollster Stuart Elway shows nearly two-thirds of Washington voters are “certainly” or “probably” willing to support Gov. Chris Gregoire’s proposal for a three-year boost of the state sales tax by a half-cent on the dollar. Elway said polling done last week with 408 randomly selected Washington voters across the state showed that voters want lawmakers to cut spending, but that new revenue will also need to be part of the solution. In his…

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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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More red ink in WA: Revenue forecast dips another $122m

More red ink in WA: Revenue forecast dips another $122m

The state Revenue Forecast Council had some more bad news for Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire and the Legislature: The latest forecast is down another $122 million. The governor already has called an emergency session of the Legislature, beginning Nov. 28, to begin the difficult task of dealing with a budget shortfall now in the $2 billion range, including a deficit now projected at $1.4 billion plus sufficient reserves to tap if the spiral continues. Gregoire’s budget director, Marty Brown, said:…

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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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Chief economist sees bleak news on horizon

Chief economist sees bleak news on horizon

Washington’s chief economist, Arun Raha, had hoped we’d be pulling out of our economic doldrums by now, but he says tax collections are sliding backward and he has a “sinking feeling of pessimism” about a possible new recession. In a grim economic and revenue update released Thursday, Raha said the national outlook has “weakened significantly” in the weeks since his June forecast.  He said that forecast assumed improvement would begin in July and then accelerate. But in Washington state, taxes…

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Revenue update: Amnesty helped, but recovery lags

Revenue update: Amnesty helped, but recovery lags

Washington’s forecast has ballooned 13.3 percent, by nearly $158 million in the past two months,  almost entirely because of a now-expired amnesty program for repaying past-due taxes without penalty. But the state Revenue Forecast Council, in a sober revenue update today, said that’s a one-time pickup and that the state economic recovery lags and that without the amnesty program, the bottom line would actually be down nearly $27 million, or 2.2 percent below the March forecast.  That’s not a lot,…

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Gregoire proposes deep budget cuts

Gregoire proposes deep budget cuts

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire, responding to a massive budget gap of $4.6 billion and public sentiment against tax hikes, is proposing a $32 billion two-year state budget that slashes virtually every segment of state spending. The governor recommended eliminating some of her favorite programs, including health coverage for the working poor, tax support of state parks, Disability Lifeline grants, Children’s Health Program, class-size reduction in K-4, and more.  She proposed shuttering the history museums in Tacoma and Spokane and freezing…

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WA revenue projections plunge $1.2 billion

WA revenue projections plunge $1.2 billion

More dire news for the state Legislature and Governor Gregoire:  The multibillion-dollar budget hole has gotten about $1.2 billion worse.  Washington’s projected deficit is now calculated at well over $5 billion. The state’s anemic economy and the huge budget gap will dominate the upcoming legislative session, and Sen. Joe Zarelli and other lawmakers are urging that an emergency session be held next month to get a head start on more cuts.  The governor already has ordered across-the-board cuts of over…

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Budget crisis update: Congress OKs aid bill

Budget crisis update: Congress OKs aid bill

The U.S. House, recalled to the Capitol from the campaign trail for a special sitting Tuesday, approved and sent to President Obama a $26 billion budget bailout for the states.  For Washington, it will mean the difference between having a small reserve and dipping into the red, requiring a special session or gubernatorial edict to cut state spending. The vote was party line in the Washington delegation: 6 Democrats aye and 3 Republicans nay.  A relieved Governor Gregoire was delighted…

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