Washington House Releases Supplemental Budgets

Posted on February 26, 2014 by jgarver

This afternoon the Washington House released a proposed 2014 Supplemental Operating and Capital budget.

The House’s proposal would boost the state’s $33.6 billion dollar budget by approximately $170 million. The majority of the increase goes to maintaining current services. The major changes to maintenance level include mandatory caseload, utilization, and federal match rate adjustments in health care, staff mix and enrollment changes in K-12; College Bound Scholarship adjustments in higher education; caseload adjustments in TANF/WCCC; Hospital Safety Net Assessment and Affordable Care Act Implementation adjustments; and self-insurance and workers compensation premium adjustments.

The budget also includes approximately $82 million in policy level increases. Among those changes included are $60 million for K-12 for materials, supplies, and operating costs; $18 million in community mental health funding increases; and $4 million in higher education increases in addition to $5 million to support the Real Hope Act.

Higher Education

The supplemental budget proposed by the House supports the investment made in higher education in the 2013-15 biennial budget.

The budget makes a handful of investments in higher education including $5 million to the State Need Grant in response to the Real Hope Act and $2 million to support the Institute of Protein Design at the University of Washington and matching funds to support a federal grant for the Jet Fuels Center of Excellence at Washington State University.

The budget also maintains the ability for public baccalaureate institutions to raise tuition beyond appropriated tuition levels for the 2014-15 academic year. The budget includes clarifying language that underscores the requirement that institutions that raise tuition beyond appropriated levels must mitigate the impact to students with additional financial aid.

Capital Budget

The House also proposed a supplemental capital budget for higher education. The House provided funding for a small number of projects across higher education. This includes authority for Evergreen to enter into a certificate of participation to purchase the existing facility in Tacoma for the College’s Tacoma program; $2 million to remove, clean and dispose of two underground diesel oil tanks at Central Washington University; and $5 million to renovate the Carver Academic Center at Western Washington University.

House Republicans Name New Ranking Member to Capital Committee

Posted on August 7, 2013 by jgarver

This week the Washington House Republicans announced that Rep. Richard DeBolt would join the membership of the House Capital Budget Committee as the new ranking Republican member.

DeBolt stepped aside as the House Republican leader earlier this year. DeBolt will take on the role formerly held by Rep. Judy Warnick.

Warnick was named caucus chair earlier this year.

House Republican Caucus Elects New Leadership

Posted on April 29, 2013 by jgarver

This weekend the Washington House Republican Caucus elected new leadership.

House Republicans elected Snohomish County Representative Dan Kristiansen as their new minority leader at a reorganizaiton meeting on Saturday. Kristiansen replaces Rep. Richard DeBolt from Chehalis who stepped down earlier this month.

In addition the Caucus elected Moses Lake Rep. Judy Warnick as Caucus Chair after Kristiansen moved to his new leadership position. Rep. Liz Pike from Camas stepped down as Assistant Floor Leader and Pierce County Rep. Steve O’Ban was elected to fill her position. Rep. Joel Kretz from Wauconda will remain as Deputy Leader.

Washington House Passes Revenue Package

Posted on April 25, 2013 by jgarver

Late yesterday the Washington House passed a revenue package over to the Senate with a vote of 50-47.

Five Democrats joined Republicans voting against a $900 million revenue package.

The package which would raise funds for education over the next two years sets up the House’s position in budget negotiations which are expected to continue through May.

Smaller Revenue Package Passes House Committee

Posted on April 23, 2013 by jgarver

This afternoon the Washington House Finance voted along party lines to approve a $900 million tax package.

The package, originally slated at $1.16 million, was scaled back. The package moving forward no longer extends the temporary tax surcharge on beer that was adopted in 2010. In addition insurance agent services, janitorial services, and stevedoring services (shipping containers) were removed from the list of repealed tax exemptions.

The largest component of the revenue package that is now headed to House Rules is HB 2038 which would permanently extend a B&O tax surcharge that would otherwise expire in June. In addition the package either levies taxes not in effect today or would not still be in effect after June including the elimination of tax breaks for bottled water, travel agents, and high-tech research and development. As passed the bill would bar a referendum but not an initiative challenge.

Several amendments were proposed by the minority to remove additional elements of the revenue package, but were not passed. It is expected that some of these amendmetns would likely return when the bill goes to the floor later this week.

Washington House Releases Biennial Budget, Holds Line on Higher Education

Posted on April 10, 2013 by jgarver

Today the Washington State House released a proposed biennial operating budget for the 2013-15 biennium.

In a press conference Representative Ross Hunter, Chair of the House Appropriations Committee highlighted the investments in education and critical services to Washington citizens proposed in the House budget.

Overall the proposed budget addresses the state’s $3.4 billion budget problem through policy enhancements, fund transfers, reduced spending, and increased resources.

The House proposal makes $2 billion in additional policy enhancements, the majority of which are in K-12 ($1.4 billion). Among the investments made include:

$986 million to K-12 to fund increased materials, supplies, and operating costs; reduce early elementary class size (K-3); fund pupil transportation and instructional hours.
$87 million for postsecondary education financial aid
$41 million for Early Childhood Education Assistance Program enhancements
$146 million for home care worker compensation
$25 million for debt service on anticipated new capital projects

These enhancements as well as the other parts of the budget are funded through a combination of savings, reduced spending, and increased resources.

$757 million in fund transfers including $575 million from the Budget Stabilization Account
$1.3 billion in reduced spending
$1.3 billion in increased resources

The House proposal leaves $337 million in projected total reserves.

Higher Education

The House proposal makes an investment in higher education that moves in the right direction. The budget provides $11 million in targeted funding for state instructional support and $12 million to support biofuels and clean energy programs.

The proposed budget assumes a 3% tuition increase for The Evergreen State College, Eastern Washington University, Central Washington University and the Community and Technical Colleges; and a 5% tuition increase for Western Washington University, Washington State University, and the University of Washington.

Finally the budget makes an investment in financial aid including the College Bound Scholarship program and the State Need Grant.

The House proposal continues the suspension of some small state financial aid programs from 2011-13 including suspension of Washington Scholars, WAVE, Health Professional Scholarships, and Future Teacher Scholarships.

Evergreen

For Evergreen the House’s proposed budget would allow tuition for undergraduate residents to increase by 3% per year of the biennium. The College may increase tuition beyond this level but would be required to invest in institutional financial aid.

In addition the budget appropriates $1.157 million for the purpose of instructional support. These funds include $752,000 from the proposed maintenance level appropriated to the College and $405,000 in additional funds to support this effort. Evergreen is required to provide a report by September 1, 2014 that provides the specific details on how these amoutnes were spent in the preceding fiscal year and any process changes or best-practices implemented in the College.

Finally, the Washington State Institute for Public Policy, a public service center of Evergreen, is funded to support a comprehensive study of the financial incentives promoting distributed generation in Washington.

Next Steps

The House is scheduled to hold an executive session on the proposed biennial operating budget on Thursday afternoon followed by a vote on the floor on either Friday or Saturday.

Capital Budgets Galore

Posted on April 10, 2013 by jgarver

Today the House released its proposed biennial 2013-15 capital budget and the Senate held a pubic hearing on its biennial proposal.

The Washington House’s proposed capital budget provides funding for a number of projects across higher education. This includes funding for two projects at Evergreen – the renovation of the Science Lab 1 Basement and the Science Lab 2 second floor.

In addition the budget includes funding for minor works preservation and preventative maintenance. Though the House’s budget does provide some funding for minor works preservation it does not fully fund the College’s request.

The proposed budget does not fund the design phase of the Lecture Hall Renovation, the predesign for the renovation of Seminar I, and the acquisition of land and design for the Tacoma Campus.

Next Steps

The Senate Ways & Means Committee is scheduled to hold an executive session on their proposal on Thursday. The House expected to do the same on their proposal on Friday morning.

House Passes Supplemental Budget for Current Fiscal Year

Posted on January 24, 2011 by garverj

The proposed supplemental budget for the current fiscal year moved from the Washington House to the Washington Senate today.

This morning the Washington House voted 55-43 to pass House Bill 1086.

Legislators are trying to close a $588 million shortfall in the fiscal year that ends this June. The House’s proposed supplemental reduces the budget shortfall by $340 million, leaving approximately $260 million in the red for the year.

House Bill 1086 now goes to the Senate for further consideration. It is expected that the Senate Ways & Means Committee will take up the bill tomorrow afternoon

WA House Releases Proposed Supplemental Budget

Posted on January 19, 2011 by garverj

Higher education is preserved for the most part in the Washington House’s proposed FY11 supplemental budget – HB 1086.

Total spending reductions for higher education funding are $4.5 million, including a $4 million reduction to research for the University of Washington and Washington State University and $541,000 in reductions to the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) – $378,000 and the Spokane Intercollegiate Research & Technology Institute (SIRTI) – $163,000.

The proposed supplemental reduces funding to the following HECB programs and services: (1) College Readiness Program, (2) Health Sciences and Services Authority (HSSA), (3) student financial aid adminsitration, and (4) the Technology Transformation Task Force.

In addition, the proposed supplemental budget makes reductions in several other parts of the state budget including K-12 and health and human services, including a $42 million reduction to K-4 class size enhancement and reductions to the Basic Health Program

The proposed House supplemental budget differs from the Governor in several ways. The House’s proposal maintains current levy equalization for K-12 districts and current funding for Apple Health for Kids and the Disability Lifeline. In addition, reductions were made to the following programs, but not to the level proposed by the Governor – state food assistance, child abuse prevention, prescription drug assistance for seniors, community health clinics, family planning services, and mental health assistance.

The House Ways & Means Committee will hold an Executive Session on HB 1086 this afternoon.

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