House budget proposal follows Governor's
lead
The budget released today by the House of Representatives'
Appropriations Committee follows the same general script as the Governor's budget proposal. The Washington State Budget & Policy Center's analysis of the Governor's proposal
found that it was "a modest step towards the kind of state Washingtonians want to
live in." The Center also found that the Governor's budget for the state's general fund was very much in line with past budgets and in fact
"represented a smaller share of the state's resources than any of the six budgets before it."
This analysis continues to holds true. The state
general fund budget proposed in the House bill released today is $154 million less than the Governor's budget.
Health care
The House budget invests in funding needed to
implement Washington's new children's health coverage plan (Senate Bill 5093, signed by Governor Gregoire last week). An estimated 38,000 additional
children will receive health coverage in the next two years. Like the Governor's budget proposal, the House budget does not show a commitment to
expanding insurance coverage to uninsured adults.
A
large share of the difference between the two budgets is due to lower caseload forecasts, especially in health care programs. The House budget calls
for spending less on medical assistance than the Governor's budget because of the lower caseload forecasts. The proposal does not reinvest these
dollars to continue to tackle the problem of uninsured Washingtonians.
The House budget includes using $20 million in current tobacco tax
dollars to expand public health services provided by the Department of Health and the 35 public health districts.
Education
The priorities and levels of funding in the House budget are very
similar to the Governor's budget. Both budgets propose slowly phasing in the recommendations of Washington Learns, meaning the state still has a long
way to go in coming years.
Human services
The House proposal adds funding for key immigrant and refugee programs
- enhancing the limited English proficiency and naturalization programs. For unemployable disabled adults, the budget adds funding for a managed
mental health care benefit and helping connect these individuals to federal programs. Like the Governor's budget, benefits are not
increased for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and the General Assistance for Unemployable, benefits that have not seen increases in over 13
years (see the Center's analysis of TANF
grants).
Rainy Day Fund
Both budgets propose a similar cushion between revenue and spending,
leaving over $600 million in reserves at the end of the biennium. While the governor proposed a constitutional "rainy day fund" (or Budget
Stabilization Fund), the House budget does not appropriate money to this fund (see the Center's analysis of the governor's proposal).
Budget
transparency
The House budget was released at 1:00 pm today and heard by the House
Appropriations Committee at 3:30 this afternoon. The House leadership expects to pass the appropriations bill by the end of the week. Not only is
there a short timeline for public review, but the budget documents did not provide sufficient context. There were no comparisons to previous years or
the governor's proposal. A complete analysis of the House budget would require more time or more detail than provided by today's release.
The budget proposal of
the Senate Ways and Means Committee is expected in one week. More detailed analysis of the state budget from the Center will follow.
Contact
Remy Trupin, Executive Director, 206.262.0973*222
Jeff Chapman, Research Director, 206.262.0973*224
