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Tag: Gregoire

State government money woes sweep West Coast

State government money woes sweep West Coast

Governor Gregoire and the Washington Legislature are cringing at the thought of a projected $2 billion budget gap this winter, and that number is expected to rise a bunch more in Thursday’s revenue forecast update.  This after closing a $9 billion gap in April. Does misery love company? Then take note that our sister states of Oregon and California are facing dire straits. Today’s LA Times says the fresh deficit of $21 billion is looming for the not-so-Golden State, even…

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Budget Battle of 2010: Just how big is the gap?

Budget Battle of 2010: Just how big is the gap?

Governor Gregoire and the Legislature had to grapple with a $9 billion budget problem last year, and they’re not out of the woods yet.  Recovery of the state economy is still elusive, and a new revenue forecast next week could show still more slippage before it gets better. For now, the placeholder number for the problem that awaits Olympia: $1.7 billion.  That includes $1.2 billion from revenue falloff and from loss of a big tax lawsuit, and $533 million from…

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Taxes in your future? Well, maybe …

Taxes in your future? Well, maybe …

Gov. Chris Gregoire’s stance, in both her 2008 re-election campaign and in the 2009 legislative session, was death on taxes. Now? She’s willing to at least consider it next winter. The Democratic controlled Legislature, at her insistence, closed a $9 billion budget gap this year without general tax hikes or a tax referendum to the voters.  But as the state economy continues to sputter, lawmakers face another gap of $750 million to $1 billion, due to sagging tax receipts and…

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Gregoire: Future budget woes could be even worse

Gregoire: Future budget woes could be even worse

Governor Gregoire, looking south to budget woes in California and Oregon, takes some solace that she and the Legislature balanced a new two-year state budget without general new taxes and without major warfare in Oly or at the ballot-box.  But Stateline.org, the online news service of the Pew Center on the States, quotes Gregoire as saying “what keeps me up at night” is worrying about the NEXT budget train-wreck. As The Olympian’s Brad Shannon points out, Gregoire says she can’t breathe easy, just thinking about balancing a 2011-13 budget without…

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Is there a tax hike in your future?

Is there a tax hike in your future?

Governor Gregoire, who last December proposed closing the state budget gap with all cuts and no new taxes, says the  economy has since slid so much that it makes sense for lawmakers to be “looking at any and every option” for a possible tax package to take to the statewide ballot. At a news conference at the Capitol Monday, her no-new-taxes position seemed to thaw a bit. She said it makes sense for the Legislature to at least consider new revenue since the nearly…

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