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Tag: Washington state budget crisis

House D budget: Cuts, delays, but no sales tax hike

House D budget: Cuts, delays, but no sales tax hike

Majority House Democrats launched the endgame of the election-year 2012 legislative session Tuesday, unveiling their plan to close a billion-dollar budget gap. They propose doing this by shifting $405 million in K-12 payments into the next biennium; creating a few new taxes; shedding some revenue-sharing with local government; and cutting higher education, social and health services, inmate supervision, parks, State Archives and other programs. The proposal includes some new revenue, including $18 million from a new tax on mortgage bankers…

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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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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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Tightening the belt: Gregoire orders spending cuts

Tightening the belt: Gregoire orders spending cuts

Governor Gregoire has just inked an executive order requiring most agencies and programs of Washington state government to trim their sails some more.  The actual percentage — in the 4-to-7-percent range — will be filled in by the state budget office after the new revenue forecast is released on Thursday morning. The cuts, which take effect Oct. 1, will apply to all programs without a constitutional protection, such as basic aid-to-education, bond debt service and pensions, or federal entitlements.  A…

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