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Category: Productivity Board

Heritage Center, election bills top Wyman’s wishlist

Heritage Center, election bills top Wyman’s wishlist

Resuming the Washington State Heritage Center project and enacting election improvements are the centerpieces of new Secretary of State Kim Wyman’s legislative package. Wyman unveiled her 2013 legislative agenda in her office Friday morning during a gathering with members of the Capitol Press Corps. Wyman introduced several division directors and most of her executive team during the informal get-together with the media. The Heritage Center, which would house the State Archives, State Library, historical exhibits, an educational center and other…

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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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State budget deal: cuts and more cuts

State budget deal: cuts and more cuts

As Washington struggles to emerge from the deepest recession in 80 years, lawmakers have reached an 11th-hour budget deal for the next two years, cutting expenses in virtually every sector of state government. The $32.2 billion plan, hammered out behind closed doors by negotiators from all four caucuses, relies on nearly $4.6 billion in spending cuts, including $1.2 billion saved by not funding two voter-approved education initiatives.  Other monster cuts are higher education, $535 million, offset by an expected $376…

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Will Senate ax money-saving program??

Will Senate ax money-saving program??

As everyone anticipated, the two-year operating budget plan offered by the Senate this week has plenty of cuts. That’s expected since the Legislature has to fix a $5 billion-plus budget deficit. But one cut in the Senate spending plan that raised eyebrows was the elimination of a small program that pays big dividends in saving tax dollars. It’s called the state Productivity Board, which is part of the Office of Secretary of State’s Special Programs Division. Since its creation in…

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WA Senate releases bipartisan budget plan

WA Senate releases bipartisan budget plan

The Washington Senate has released a bipartisan budget plan for the next two years, a $32.1 billion proposal that closes a multibillion-dollar spending gap with a broad array of spending cuts and freezes, but no new general taxes. For the first time in memory, the proposal was rolled out by both the majority budget chairman, Democrat Ed Murray of Seattle, and the ranking minority budget leader, Republican Joe Zarelli of Ridgefield.  They said it reflects views of a majority of…

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Honoring workers with money-saving ideas

Honoring workers with money-saving ideas

Secretary Reed (third from left) with some of the honorees Fourteen state employees recently were honored for their ideas that resulted in over $1 million in savings last year at the annual Innovations in State Government Awards ceremony in Secretary of State Sam Reed’s office. “With our state government facing a terrible multibillion-dollar budget deficit, we need our state employees more than ever to help find ways to save the state money,” said Reed, chairman of the Productivity Board. “The…

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