News / Northwest

Lawmakers approve $43.7 billion state budget

By Rachel La Corte, Associated Press

Published: June 30, 2017, 4:30pm

2 Photos

Democratic Sen. Christine Rolfes and Sen. Kevin Ranker talk to the media about the agreement reached on education funding June 29 in Olympia. Lawmakers say their budget compromise satisfies a state Supreme Court ruling that says the state must spend more money on schools. (AP Photo/Rachel La Corte) Photo Gallery

OLYMPIA — The Washington Legislature approved a new two-year $43.7 billion state operating budget Friday, sending the spending plan to Gov. Jay Inslee in time to avert a partial government shutdown.

Lawmakers started rapidly voting on the budget, an education funding plan, and other bills tied to the budget on the same day full details of the plans were publicly released.

The House passed the measure by a 70-23 vote within hours after the Senate passed it on a 39-10 vote. The House passed the education funding plan on a 67-26 vote and sent it to the Senate, which passed it on a 32-17 vote.

The budget adds $1.8 billion for K-12 public schools in the next biennium, part of a $7.3 billion hike over the next four years designed to satisfy a state Supreme Court ruling that the state had not adequately funded basic education.

Highlights of the $43.7 billion two-year Washington budget

OLYMPIA — Highlights of the $43.7 billion, two-year budget Washington state lawmakers are set to vote on Friday:

—K-12 EDUCATION: $1.8 billion in additional spending for public schools, including $618 million for employee compensation, over the next two years.

—HIGHER EDUCATION: Provides $50 million for the state need grant over the next two years and $14.7 million for the state match for the opportunity scholarship. It also spends $15 million for medical education at Washington State University and the University of Washington.

—MENTAL HEALTH: Spends $60 million to cover overspending at the state psychiatric hospitals and to make changes based on an agreement with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services. An additional $26.7 million is provided for community mental health investments including crisis centers, community long-term inpatient beds, and clubhouses. More than $17 million goes to increase community placement beds to divert and discharge patients from the state psychiatric hospitals.

—STATE WORKERS: State employee union contracts are funded at a cost of $618 million.

—PUBLIC SAFETY: Allocates $3.2 million to the Department of Corrections to allow hiring of additional records staff and make IT system improvements in response to the erroneous early release of prisoners that occurred in 2016. Spends an additional $2.5 million to implement new law that makes fourth DUI a felony.

—HOMELESSNESS: Spends $8.9 million on housing and homeless services, including housing and services for homeless youth and individuals with a history of mental illness.

—HEALTH CARE: The budget includes $739.6 million over 2 years from the Medicaid waiver. The budget also includes $40.9 million for Hepatitis C treatment costs for Medicaid clients with less severe liver disease, and spends $5.6 million to extend coverage for high risk, non-Medicare individuals through the Washington State Health Insurance Pool through December 2022.

—PUBLIC HEALTH: About $15 million in federal and local funding authority is provided for programs and services for people with HIV, $12 million is spent to implement strategies that control the spread of communicable disease, chronic disease, and other health threats. An additional $3 million is spent to test water fixtures in schools across the state for the presence of lead.

—NEW AGENCY: More than $6 million is provided for the administrative costs associated with creating the new Department of Children, Youth, and Families. Starting in fiscal year 2019, the Children's Administration and the Department of Early Learning will be consolidated into the new agency.

Sen. Kevin Ranker, D-Orcas Island, said the budget does “many, many positive things that meet our core values.”

Ranker said that while he would have favored different taxes to pay for the plan, he said it was the Legislature’s duty to pass the budget.

“It is unacceptable for any of us to take our state over the cliff and have that government shutdown,” he said.

After the final vote in the House, which Inslee watched from the wings, the governor called it “a tremendous education budget.”

“For decades, the state of Washington has fallen short,” he said. “I believe this comports with not just our constitutional obligation, but more importantly our moral obligation to help our kids.”

The budget also adds $618 million for public employee collective bargaining and pay and $102 million in mental health spending.

“This is a historic budget that I believe fully funds our schools for the first time in decades and will meet our constitutional obligations,” he said.

The plan is paid for with a mix of revenue. The statewide property tax per $1,000 of assessed value increases from $1.89 to $2.70, with the increase being earmarked for education. That rate — expected to bring in $6.6 billion over the next four years — has $1.6 billion of that coming in the next two years. The plan also keeps in place local property tax levies but caps them beginning in 2019 at a lower level and requires they be used for programs that supplement basic education.

Senate and House nonpartisan analyses show different impacts of the property tax increase after the offset of the lowering of local levies, with the Senate analysis showing most districts would see a decrease by 2021 and a House analysis showing that most would see an increase.

“Constitutionally, the property tax is what funds our public education system,” said Republican Sen. John Braun, one of the key budget negotiators. “We worked very hard to make sure it’s balanced so that there’s not a huge weight on one part of the state.”

House Democratic budget negotiators said that while the increase in some districts, including Seattle, is causing some of their caucus angst, it was the best solution they could agree to.

“We all know that in the end we have to pay for schools somehow,” Democratic Rep. June Robinson said. “This is what we can agree on in a divided government.”

Legislative leaders say the budget complies with a 2012 state Supreme Court ruling that they must meet the state’s constitutional requirement to fully fund the state’s basic education system. Lawmakers have already put more than $2 billion toward the issue since the ruling, but the biggest piece remaining of the court order is figuring out how much the state must provide for teacher salaries. School districts currently pay a big chunk of those salaries with local property-tax levies.

Lawmakers — who started their regular 105-day legislative session in January — have had to go into three overtime sessions to reach agreement.

Highlights of the $43.7 billion two-year Washington budget

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