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WA Senate coalition unveils $33.3b no-tax budget

WA Senate coalition unveils $33.3b no-tax budget

The Washington Senate’s GOP-led majority coalition, backed by a handful of Democrats, rolled out a $33.3 billion, two-year state budget proposal Wednesday that holds the line on taxes, plows $1 billion in new money into education, cuts college tuition, and expands Medicaid coverage. The plan would also restore the 3 percent pay cut imposed on state workers in the last biennium. The proposal is the first legislative draft of the session, following on the heels of new Gov. Jay Inslee’s…

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Inslee budget: $1.4b in new revenue, mostly for K-12

Inslee budget: $1.4b in new revenue, mostly for K-12

The Battle of the Budgets has begun. Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat in the third month of his tenure, unveiled his $34.4 billion budget blueprint in a lengthy televised news conference at the Capitol on Thursday. Headline: He would generate about $1.4 billion in new revenue by extending expiring taxes and by closing or reducing a variety of tax exemptions.  The new money would mostly go for education, a $1.2 billion down-payment on the state addressing a state Supreme Court…

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Gregoire unveils $34b budget & tax plan

Gregoire unveils $34b budget & tax plan

Gov. Chris Gregoire, in one of her last major acts as governor, has unveiled a $34 billion, two-year budget for state government, along with a tax package devoted largely to upgrading the K-12 budget. The Democratic governor, leaving office in January after serving eight years, laid out spending priorities for every sector of state government, including schools and colleges, parks, social and health services, prisons, the courts and Legislature, Puget Sound cleanup, and the departments of government.  She also released…

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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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Red ink: House offers $32 billion cut-laden budget

Red ink: House offers $32 billion cut-laden budget

Majority House Democrats have unveiled a $32.4 billion state budget that incorporates $3.2 billion in assorted cuts, a 3 percent salary reduction and higher medical contributions for public employees, pension reforms, and more. The no-new-taxes budget for the next two years was the first draft to surface in the Legislature since a new revenue forecast knocked another $800 million hole in the budget last month, bringing the total gap to over $5 billion.  Tax collections have lagged as the state and…

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Gregoire signs hard-times budget

Gregoire signs hard-times budget

Governor Gregoire has signed a new budget for Washington state, but warns that we aren’t out of the woods yet. The Democratic governor signed the $31 billion spending roadmap Tuesday. Combined with a package of tax increases, the major budget revisions address a $2.8 billion gap that developed as the economy deteriorated after the 2009 legislative session.  A variety of taxes, including an additional $1-a-pack on smokes, taxes on bottled water and candy, and higher business taxes on some services, are…

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Gregoire: $750 million gap remains after cuts

Gregoire: $750 million gap remains after cuts

Governor Gregoire, in her annual State of the State Address to a joint session of the Legislature, says the “incredibly challenging” task of closing a multibillion-dollar budget gap can’t be done without finding $750 million in new revenue once budget cuts are made. That could come from new federal matching money or new state taxes, or both, she said. Gregoire said she has identified $1 billion in spending cuts, but that she personally isn’t willing to go any deeper. The…

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