The Washington Senate will release a proposed 2011-13 operating budget this evening (April 12).
A press conference is scheduled for 5:30 and it is expected that the budget will be available soon after the press conference.
The press conference will be followed by a public hearing tomorrow (April 13) at 2:30 on the proposal in the Ways & Means Committee.
The House passed a proposed biennial operating budget on Saturday. With a vote of 53-43, the budget now goes to the Senate.
With only two weeks left in the regular 2011 legislative session, the action taken by the House this weekend moves the state closer toward closing the budget gap and heading home.
The Senate is expected to release their proposed biennial budgets on Tuesday. Also on Tuesday the House Capital Budget Committee is expected to move the House’s proposed biennial capital budget out of committee and to the floor
Among the changes made to the bill is language to eliminate a proviso dedicated to the Latino/a Educational Achievement Project (LEAP) bilingual teacher mentoring program in the amount of $75,000 in each year ($150,000 total) in the Office of the Superintendent of Instruction and redirect these funds to the to the Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB) for alternate route and teacher recruitment programs, including pipeline for paraeducators, retooling to teach math and science, and the recruiting Washington teachers program.
In addition, lanuage was added to provide $50,000 each fiscal year out of the existing appropriation for the Office of Financial Management to contract with the Washington State Quality Award for training, outreach and assessments for public agencies and their vendors.
The language also instructs all state agencies, except the community and technical colleges, to track and report employees trained in performance management; provide to the Government Management and Accountability Program (GMAP), State Auditor’s Office and the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee copies of their Washington State Quality Award (WSQA) assessment, and to post the results to the GMAP’s website; to integrate performance management, including the Washington State Quality Award assessment, into agencies strategic plans. The community and technical colleges were amended out of the requirement for community colleges to conduct a full Washington State Quality Award assessment by June 30, 2013.
Finally, language was included that directs the Office of Financial Management to estimate on an annual basis the percentage of Washington households with incomes in the middle-income bracket or higher, and provide a report to the Governor and appropriate committees of the legislature and directs the Work Force Training and Education Board to include in its comprehensive plan specific strategies to increase the percentage of middle-income bracket or higher households, as calculation by the Office of Financial Management and developed by the agency or educational institution that will lead each strategy.
Higher education takes a hit in the Washington Senate’s proposed FY11 supplemental budget. On Wednesday the Senate released their proposed supplemental budget and held a public hearing on the legislation.
Under the Senate’s proposal higher education funding is reduced in total by $27.412 million, including $25.4 million through a tuition transfer from the institutions -public 2-year and 4-year – to the Higher Education Coordinating Board for financial aid.
In addition, the proposed Senate supplemental budget would reduce funding to the Higher Education Coordinating Board ($909,000), Workforce Employment and Training (ESD) ($318,000), and the following HECB programs and services ($632,000): (1) College Readiness Program, (2) Health Sciences and Services Authority (HSSA), (3) student financial aid administration, and (4) the Technology Transformation Task Force. Finally, the proposed supplemental reduces the funds each four-year, public baccalaureate institution pays as members of the Council of presidents ($168,000).
In addition, the proposed supplemental budget makes reductions in several other parts of the state budget including the Basic Health Plan and the Disability Lifeline program.
Legislators are trying to close a $588 million shortfall in the fiscal year that ends this June. Neither of the proposed supplemental budgets closes the budget gap in the current fiscal year, both proposals leave an approximate $200 million shortfall.
The Senate Ways & Means Committee will hold an Executive Session on the proposed supplemental budget at 3:30 this afternoon.
This afternoon the Washington Senate passed legislation to reduce the state’s budget shortfall in the current fiscal year. The passage of this legislation will reduce the state’s budget shortfall by approximately $590 million dollars.
The Senate passed three bills – Senate Bill 6892 (38-0), Senate Bill 6893 (28-11), and HB 3225 (30-9).
Senate Bills 6892 and 6893 now go to the House for action. House Bill 3225 will go to the Governor for her signature.
Things they are a changing in Washington. Long-time serving Chair of the Senate Ways & Means Committee, Senator Margarita Prentice, is expected to leave her current position to become president pro tempore of the Senate.
The president pro tempore is the backup to the Senate president, Lt. Gov. Brad Owen. Owen presides over the Senate, and in his absence the pro-tem takes the gavel. Former state Sen. Rosa Franklin held the post before she retired last session.
Speculation suggests that Senator Ed Murray will likely take her position as Chair of the Senate appropriations committee.
The Senate Democratic caucus Committee on Committees — which decides committee assignments — was scheduled to meet Monday. Their recommendations will go to the caucus as a whole for consideration in December.
Yesterday, Governor Gregoire issued an executive order directing across-the-board cuts to state programs and agencies.
The level of the reductions, as stated in the executive order, are to be based on the September Economic and Revenue forecast. As a result, the level of reductions to state agencies will not be revealed unitl after the release of the September Economic and Revenue forecast on Thursday. The reductions will go into effect on October 1, 2010.
Over the last month, Governor Gregoire informed state agencies to prepare for across-the-board cuts that could range from 4 to 7 percent. However, given the continual decline in state revenues since June, the Governor warned that the cuts could be even higher.
In addition, the Governor has stated that quick action by the 2011 Washington Legislature will be needed to pass a supplemental budget that reduces state support for public services by $500 million from the last six months of the current fiscal year.
It is also expected that the 2011-13 budget will need to be reduced by 10 percent to bridge an estimated state shortfall of $3 billion.
Last week President Obama signed into law the Jobs Bill. The bill provides $26 billion to states to support education jobs and fund Medicaid budgets.
The U.S. Senate approved the bill on August 5, followed by the U.S. House of Representatives on August 10.
Washington is expected to receive $530 million. The state will receive $320 million for Medicaid and $208 million to pay salaries for 3,000 teachers who were in line to lose their jobs.
According to the U.S. Deparment of Education over the last two years the federal government has been able to support 300,000 education jobs through stimulus funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
To date, seven states have drawn down 100% of previously allocated funding under the State Fiscal Stabilizatioon Fund, while 18 states have drawn down 80% or more. According to the Center on Education Policy 75% of school districts that received stimulus funds expect to cut teaching positions in the upcoming school year.
Guidance and applications for the federal dollars have been sent to Governors.
Late this week Governor Gregoire suggested that she would consider a special session if the federal Medicaid matching dollars do not come to the state by August 9.
Speaking to KOMO radio she shared that she would consider a special session and will consult with legislative leaders to limit a session to a day or two.
This comes at a time when Washington faces a projected shortfall of $3 billion in the 2011-13 budget cycle and a slow economic recovery that is forcing fundamental changes in state operations.
Speculation suggests that a special session could take place as soon as September.
On Tuesday evening in Tacoma, the Governor and staff held the first of four currently scheduled statewide public hearings in Tacoma.
The media estimated approximately 450 individuals in attendance in the standing-room only crowd at the University of Washington Tacoma campus.
Approximately 140 people signed up to speak and raised several ideas with regards to the services government should and should not deliver.
Some of the ideas that were expressed, and are echoed on the transforming the budget website set up by the Governor, include no longer providing meals to state workers during meetings, reducing the number of license plates for Washington registered cars from two to one, and legalizing marijuana.
Others shared the areas of government that should not be cut including affordable housing, preservation of recreation areas, and education and health care.
The next public hearing on the budget is scheduled for July 21 from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at Everett Community College.