This Washington
Legislators Clinch Budget Agreement, Cutting $4.5 Billion
This morning, house and senate budget leaders outlined their final 2011-2013 budget proposal, which makes $4.6 billion in cuts, roughly $200 million less
than the original senate version and $100 million more than the house version. Rep. Ross Hunter (D-48, Medina) called the budget "the most sustainable budget that we've done in a long time." All the leaders present — including senate majority leader Sen. Lisa Brown (D-3, Spokane), Rep. Gary Alexander (R-20, Olympia), and Sen. Joe Zarelli (R-18, Ridgefield) — praised the bipartisan effort that produced the final proposal.
"A budget seems like a number problem, but we all know its really about people," Brown stated. "I believe that this budget did take longer given the challenge in front of us, but I think we were able to put it together in a responsible way."
The budget agreement makes $600 million in cuts to higher education and implements a 1.9 percent salary reduction for teachers and a 3 percent reduction for administrative staff.
In social services, the agreement spares the Disability Lifeline medical program but completely eliminates Disability Lifeline's cash stipend. Apple Health for Kids is also maintained, though premiums are raised for undocumented immigrant children who live in families making more than 200 percent of the poverty level. Hunter and his ways and means counterpart Sen. Ed Murray (D-43, Seattle) also noted that the budget implements the governor's three percent salary reduction for state employees, and reduces Medicaid personal care hours by 10 percent.[pullquote]"We didn't eliminate," Murray said, "we reduced and we preserved."[/pullquote]
The proposal makes up the remainder of the shortfall through $459 million in fund transfers.
Murray noted that even though the budget included drastic cuts to social programs and to education, it didn't completely eliminate programs as Governor Chris Gregoire's original proposal did. "We didn't eliminate," Murray said, "we reduced and we preserved." Murray noted that there are "30,000 people on basic health today, that would have been off it had we implemented the governor's original proposal."
As the lead Republican negotiator in the senate, Zarelli continually emphasized the sustainability of the final budget agreement, noting that it was the first budget in decades that didn't spend more money than the state expected to take in. "Let's not commit to things we don't know if we can do in the future," he said, noting that "we're not in a position yet and we're not able to say all of our problems are behind us."
In a statement, Gregoire said that legislators "took the right approach by not relying on short-term fixes or budget gimmicks, and they met my requirement to leave a sizable ending fund balance to ensure we have the resources needed to carry us through our economic recovery" and said that "as a final budget is approved, I again call on our communities to reinforce the state’s safety net, and help ensure that our most vulnerable are cared for."
Legislators failed to provide reporters with solid details on a possible capital budget agreement to reduce the state's debt limit through a constitutional amendment, saying only that capital budget leaders would present a possible agreement later today. The debt limit negotiations — now the final piece of the special session's business — have pitted the senate (which unanimously passed a debt reduction bill) against the house (which has failed to act on the bill) and have threatened to carry the legislature into a second special session.
"A budget seems like a number problem, but we all know its really about people," Brown stated. "I believe that this budget did take longer given the challenge in front of us, but I think we were able to put it together in a responsible way."
The budget agreement makes $600 million in cuts to higher education and implements a 1.9 percent salary reduction for teachers and a 3 percent reduction for administrative staff.
In social services, the agreement spares the Disability Lifeline medical program but completely eliminates Disability Lifeline's cash stipend. Apple Health for Kids is also maintained, though premiums are raised for undocumented immigrant children who live in families making more than 200 percent of the poverty level. Hunter and his ways and means counterpart Sen. Ed Murray (D-43, Seattle) also noted that the budget implements the governor's three percent salary reduction for state employees, and reduces Medicaid personal care hours by 10 percent.[pullquote]"We didn't eliminate," Murray said, "we reduced and we preserved."[/pullquote]
The proposal makes up the remainder of the shortfall through $459 million in fund transfers.
Murray noted that even though the budget included drastic cuts to social programs and to education, it didn't completely eliminate programs as Governor Chris Gregoire's original proposal did. "We didn't eliminate," Murray said, "we reduced and we preserved." Murray noted that there are "30,000 people on basic health today, that would have been off it had we implemented the governor's original proposal."
As the lead Republican negotiator in the senate, Zarelli continually emphasized the sustainability of the final budget agreement, noting that it was the first budget in decades that didn't spend more money than the state expected to take in. "Let's not commit to things we don't know if we can do in the future," he said, noting that "we're not in a position yet and we're not able to say all of our problems are behind us."
In a statement, Gregoire said that legislators "took the right approach by not relying on short-term fixes or budget gimmicks, and they met my requirement to leave a sizable ending fund balance to ensure we have the resources needed to carry us through our economic recovery" and said that "as a final budget is approved, I again call on our communities to reinforce the state’s safety net, and help ensure that our most vulnerable are cared for."
Legislators failed to provide reporters with solid details on a possible capital budget agreement to reduce the state's debt limit through a constitutional amendment, saying only that capital budget leaders would present a possible agreement later today. The debt limit negotiations — now the final piece of the special session's business — have pitted the senate (which unanimously passed a debt reduction bill) against the house (which has failed to act on the bill) and have threatened to carry the legislature into a second special session.
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