Tag Archives: Governor Gregoire

Governor Releases Budget Alternatives

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This morning Governor Gregoire released a list of budget reduction alternatives. The list of alternatives is designed to jump start budget conversations for the upcoming special session on November 28 which will focus on solving the state’s projected $2 billion shortfall.

The list is not the Governor’s 2012 supplemental budget, though it does provide some insight into where potential budget reductions will take place and where future reductions may occur if revenues continue to decline over the biennium.

The total budget reduction alternatives includes reductions beyond the $2 billion shortfall to provide legislators and stakeholders with a full array of potential budget reduction options.  However, the Governor does identify specific reductions from the list that may be included in her 2012 supplemental budget proposal to be released in late November (estimated date is November 28). 

The budget reduction alternatives make several reductions that will impact higher education, though not all of these are identified as potential items to be included in her 2012 supplemental budget. The items identified as tentative for inclusion in the Governor’s supplemental budget are in bold.

Financial Aid

  • $303 million – Eliminate the State Need Grant
  • $68.4 million – Alternative to Elimination: Reduce maximum State Need Grant award by 25% 
  • $30.6 million – Alternative to Elimination: Limit State Need Grant eligibility to public institutions
  • $25.5 million – Alternative to Elimination: Reduce State Need Grant eligibility to 55% of Median Family Income
  • $8 million – Suspend State Work Study program

Institutions

  • $222 million – Reduce state support to college and universities (two- and four-year) by 20%
  • $166 million- Reduce state support to colleges and universities (two- and four-year) by 15%
  • $111 million – Reduce state support to colleges and universities (two- and four-year) by 10%

 Other

  • $40 million- Eliminate National Board certification bonuses for teachers
  • $8.4 million – Alternative to Elimination: Reduce National Board certification bonuses for teachers
  • $38 million – Impose 10 furlough days
  • $37 million – Impose additional 1% salary reduction or K-12 employees (one year)
  • $32.7 million – Impose additional 1% salary reduction for state employees (one year)
  • $28 million – Impose health contributions for general government employees (one year)
  • $16 million – Alternative to Imposing health contributions: Reduce employer (state) monthly per-employee contribution from $850 to $825
  • $20 million – Reduce monthly state allocation for K-12 employee health benefits
  • $15 million – Reduce LEOFF Plan 2 employer contribution to actuarially necessary rates
  • $11.4 million – Suspend step increases (one year)
  • $9.7 million – Alternative to suspending step increases: Exclude employees who earn less than $2,500 per month
  • $4 million – Adjust contributions to Judicial Retirement System to payout rate
  • $476,000 – End sick leave cash-outs for employees who are not retiring

Responses to Governor Gregoire’s list of budget alternatives continue to emerge from legislative leadership including the House Democrats, Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans.

Further details regarding the 2012 supplemental budget will emerge over the next two months. Important dates along the way include the November 17 revenue forecast, the release of the Governor’s supplemental budget in late November, and the call by the Governor for legislators to return to Olympia at Noon on November 28 for a thirty-day special session, during which we will see additional budget proposals.  Finally conversations regarding revenues continue at the state level as the Governor and legislators engage in discussions about potential options to consider during the special session.

Governor Convenes Second Meeting of Higher Education Steering Committee

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This week the Governor convened the second meeting of the Higher Education Steering Committee charged to establish the Council for Higher Education.

The Committee focused on the structure and goals of education in Washington. The Committee took time to discuss the various goals that have been charged each sector of education ranging from early learning to higher education.

The Committee then spent a considerable amount of time hearing about and discussing potential roles for the new Council of Higher Education. Committee members received a presentation by Aims McGuinness from the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems on the roles of higher education state-level entities in other states. The Committee combined there discussion of potential roles with a final conversation about potential functions of a new state level entity. 

The next meeting of the Steering Committee is scheduled for October 27.

Gregoire Calls Special Session; Agencies Submit Where Reductions Would Come From

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Late last week Governor Gregoire announced that she would call the Washington Legislature back to Olympia on November 28 for a special session that could last up to thirty days by law.

The Legislature is charged with finding $2 billion in state funding reductions to fill the $1.4 billion gap expected between state revenues and projected state expenses, expected further erosion in revenues in the November 17 forecast, and calls for the state to have some money left in the general fund on July 1, 2013, when it starts the next fiscal biennium.

Legislative leaders and the top budget writers will go over plans with the governor’s staff in the next two months to prepare for the session. Word on the street is that the Governor will release her proposed budget reductions the week of October 24.

Some of the ideas that are likely to emerge in the Governor’s work may be found in state agency submissions to reduce public services and programs in response to the Governor’s request for proposals to reduce budgets by first 5% and then 10%.

Gregoire Passes NGA Chair to Nebraska Governor

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In July Governor Gregoire passed on the National Governors Assocation (NGA) Chair to Nebrasaka Governor Dave Heineman.

As the incoming chair, Governor Heineman unveiled his chair’s initiative for the year Growing State Economies-A Guide for State Policy Makers in Fostering Economic Growth. The initiative will include an individualized state profile for each governor, action-oriented reports on policy choices to generate job growth and four regional summits for governors and their senior economic advisors.

 

Gregoire Introduces New Report at National Governors Association Meeting

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In July the National Governors Association (NGA) met to dialogue on a variety of issues facing states, including the role of higher education in global competitiveness.

A key part of the conversation with regard to higher education focused on a report introduced by Governor Gregoire, as part of her NGA Chair’s initiative Complete to Compete,  that focuses on restructuring state higher education accountability systems. The report, From Information to Action: Revamping Higher Education Accountability Systems, makes the case that states should include efficiency and effectiveness metrics in their accountability systems to help answer for key policy questions.

  • What extent are public higher education institutions meeting the state’s need for an educated workforce and supporting progress toward longer term economic goals?
  • How many students at public institutions are graduating relative to total enrollment?
  • What is the return on states’ and students’ investment in public institutions in terms of completed certificates and degrees?
  • How can public institutions demonstrate that efficiency gains are being achieved without sacrificing student learning?

The report goes on to suggest that several policy options are available to make better use of accountability measures, including bugeting, funding, and regulation.

Governor Gregoire Asks Agencies to Prepare for Additional Cutbacks

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If state revenues continue to decline, as witnessed in June and July and expected in September, Governor Gregoire will ask agencies to trim their budgets further.

This afternoon Marty Brown, Director of the Office of Financial Management, sent a memo to all state agencies asking each agency to prepare for possible cutbacks by submitting 5% first-priority reductions and a second 5% for a total of 10% in state funding reduction options as part of the agency’s 2012 supplemental budget request.  The request does make exceptions for basic education, pensions, and debt service.

The impact to Evergreen of a 5% reduction of state funds would be a reduction of $1.545 million (a 1.5% reduction to total funds) and a 10% reduction of state funds would be a reduction of $3.89 million (a 3% reduction to total funds).

Recognizing the difficulty of this task given the limited amount of time that has passed since the passage of the 2011-13 budget, the memo encouraged agencies to revisit essential service assessments compiled last year and budget reductions included in the Governor’s 2011-13 biennial budget but were not enacted by the Legislature. In addition, the memo suggests additional consideration be given to new or additional policy choices and structural or business process changes that allow improved efficiencies and reduce state funding expenditures.  Finally capital-budget proposals should be limited to technical corrections, emergency issues, or return of project savings.

Governor Appoints New External Affairs Director

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Today the Governor appointed Carol Cockrill Albert as the new External Affairs Director. She replaces Marty Loesch who recently took the position of Chief of Staff to the Governor.

Albert has worked for twenty years in state and national politics, including seving as Washington state director for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign three years ago. She also served on the Clinton-Gore transition team in 1993 and as a congressional aide and strategic adviser to U.S. Senator Patty Murray.

Gregoire Names New Chief of Staff

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Earlier this week Governor Gregoire named Mary Loesch as Chief of Staff.

Loesch joined the Governor’s staff as General Counsel in 2009 and later added the role of Director of External Affairs to his work. Prior to joining Gregoire’s team Loesch was Director of Intergovernmental Affairs for the Swinomish Indian Tribe and worked in private practice with three firms.

Loesch replaces Jay Manning who announced his resignation as Chief of Staff last month.

Governor Signs Biennial Budget

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Earlier this week Governor Gregoire signed into law the 2011-13 biennial operating and capital budgets.

Gregoire vetoed several sections of the operating budget passed by the Legislature at the end of May because of concerns with policy or technical issues. In addition she vetoed a handful of items in the capital budget, none of which impact Evergreen.

Included among the vetoes to the operating budget were:

  • A feasibility study on the implications of mandating direct payroll deposit for state employees based on prior research by the Office of Financial Management that raised concerns among stakeholders and limited cost savings given that the majority of state employees voluntarily use direct deposit.
  • The requirement that all state agencies, including institutions of higher education, complete a Washington State Quality Award or Baldridge full assessment with a schedule for completion of this assessment every three years and incorporation of this assessment into agency’s strategic plans. A veto was issued based on the unprecedented level of 2011-13 budget reductions and the existence of the the Government Management and Accountability Performance (GMAP) program which is more-cost effective.
  • The creation of the Agency Reallocation and Realignment Commission (ARROW) with responsibilities for examining current state operations and organization and making proposals to reduce expenditures and eliminate duplication and overlapping services. A veto was issued based on the existence of current mechanisms to perform many of the same responsibilities without the additional cost.
  • A proviso that directs Evergreen’s Washington State Institute for Public Policy to study the costs and benefits to state and local governments and the citizens of Washington from implementation of the state’s policies on “controlled substances”. A veto was issued based on the policy that controlled substances are under federal law and it would not be in the best interest of the state to spend funds on a study that cannot address the fundamental issues in this policy area.

The Governor also signed into law legislation requiring reductions in compensation related expenditures (SB 5860) and legislation that makes several changes to higher education retirement plans (HB 1981).

No Third Term for Governor Gregoire

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Earlier this week Governor Gregoire announced that she would not seek re-election to a third term as the Governor of Washington.

In a press release, Gregoire highlighted her decades in public service and gave no set plans after leaving office in 2012.  In the meantime she plans on focusing on the economy in the next 18 months.

Who will become the next governor of Washington remains to be determined. Last week Washington’s Attorney General Rob McKenna announced that he will seek the Governorship. Though he has not declared, it is expected that current. U.S. Representative for Washington Jay Inslee will also put his hat in the ring to run.

Other names that are floating around but have not declared include Bill Bryant, Seattle Port Commissioner; Aaron Reardon, Snohomish County Executive; Dow Constantine, King County Executive; and Brian Sonntag, Washington State Auditor.