WA State Budget moves in the legislature

Democrats (the majority party) in the Washington State Senate and House of Representatives recently unveiled their sullplemental budget proposals, and - on Monday - they announced a "compromise" on the budget they plan to send to the governor for her approval. The Associated Press has the following to say about it:

State lawmakers have released some details of the one-point-three (b) billion dollar supplemental budget they expect to approve before Thursday's end-of-session deadline.

It includes a teacher salary increase of one-half percent and additional spending to help students with math, science and the WASL assessment test.

The budget also would boost pay for community college instructors and allow universities to increase enrollments.

The spending plan expands the state's basic health insurance program by 65-hundred clients to a total of nearly 107-thousand. Extra money is added to prepare for a flu outbreak. The proposal also adds money for mental health and nursing homes.

The spending is on top of the 26 (b) billion dollar two-year budget approved last year.

The supplemental would provide 50 (m) million dollars in business tax cuts and put 935 (m) million into savings for next year's budget, earmarked for education, health care and pensions.

I've aired my concerns about the House and Senate budget proposals here, and the fiscal attitude of lawmakers in Olympia here. Each of the Democrat budget proposals, despite a modicum of "savings", equated to the largest spending increase in state history. Interviews conducted by me with members of the minority party infer that the "compromise" budget is, in fact, an overlapping/combination of the two budget proposals, with a higher spending level than either of the two proposals, individually. Governor Gregoire, a Democrat, has already voiced dissapointment with the amount of spending suggested by the "compromise" budget.

I'm not going to complain, I'm not going to rail against high state spending. I've already done so. I've got some strong opinions about the budget proposals, but I'm not going to go over them again here. Read my previous posts, if you're interested. regardless of how you feel about state spending, I encourage anyone interested in learning more about how the state may be spending your money, contact your local lawmaker.