Here is a snap shot of how the state budget agreement is playing across the state:

Transparency

  • “Everybody was for transparency – the open discussion and full vetting of the issues contained in legislation – in January. It’s similar to the way every baseball fan thinks his team has a shot at the World Series in April. By the time the special session rolled around in March, and the first three weeks were spent in closed-door negotiations, budget writers had retreated to the fall-back position that they’d held some hearings on some versions of these bills at some time in the not too distant past. On the final days, there was no pretense that most members, let alone the public, had even a peek at some legislation that was about to be pushed through the sausage grinder. A 280-page budget showed up on legislators’ desks at 12:20 a.m. Wednesday morning. Gov. Chris Gregoire revealed in her post-session press conference that they had to make changes in one final piece of ‘reform’ legislation in a 2 a.m. conference, and even she didn’t know what legislators had stuck in the budget that night. This is standard operating procedure for the Legislature’s end game. It’s time to acknowledge that transparency isn’t a policy, it’s just a slogan.” (4/14 Spokesman Review)
  • “The way lawmakers solved a $1 billion budget crisis did little for open, transparent government. Closed-door meetings ruled the day and most state legislators had next to nothing to do with negotiating the final package. Maybe, just maybe, the set of circumstances, including the massive budget shortfall and the odd majority coalition of 22 Republicans and three maverick Democrats in the Senate, left legislators with less room to operate in the open. Politics on the ragged edge naturally gravitates to these darker places where the public is left waiting in the wings. Regardless, it shouldn’t take multiple special sessions to reach agreement.” (4/15 Olympian)

Sustainability

  • “The budget is balanced, but not perfectly so. There remains justifiable concern about putting only $320 million in reserves. The Washington Policy Center reports that this is half of the 2 percent of spending that was called for in the governor’s original proposal, which in itself was below the 5 percent that many economists recommend for reserves.” (4/12 Columbian)
  • “Lawmakers did not, however, leave themselves much budget breathing room. Just $320 million was left in reserve — only about 1 percent of total spending. That could vanish quickly if the fragile economic recovery stalls. Plenty of fingers will be crossed in anticipation of the June revenue forecast. With slower hiring, rising gas prices and continued uncertainty in Europe, another round of cuts is hardly out of the question.” (4/12 Spokesman Review)
  • “In the end, the coalition of Republicans and moderate Democrats in the state Senate achieved much of what they needed to slow the growth of future state spending. The mainline Democrats saved most of the spending they wanted for now. The end was a triumph of the middle, assisted over the last several days by Gov. Chris Gregoire’s necessary intrusions. This page has argued for months that the budget should make no more cuts to schools and higher education. We also said the state should not raise broad-based taxes and not skip a pension payment or push expenses into the next budget period. The Legislature avoided all of those options.” (4/11 Seattle Times)
  • “Just one anxiety: Lawmakers left town with just $320 million in reserve – barely more than 1 percent of the operating budget. The economy hiccups once, and that money vanishes. Never say that this Legislature refused to expand gambling.” (4/15 Tacoma News Tribune)
  • “There’s plenty of risk folded into this volatile budget. Lawmakers shaved the state reserve fund down to about $320 million for $31.1 billion of spending. That compares with some $600 million in reserves that the governor proposed when she first introduced her supplemental budget in November 2011. The Legislature is betting that a slowly thawing economy won’t slip back into the deep freeze due to rising oil prices or financial instability in Europe or any host of forces that could suddenly surface.” (4/15 Olympian)
  • “One thing may keep lawmakers up at night: The amount left in reserves is on the low side, $320 million out of a $31.1 billion budget, one reason why four local Republican legislators opposed it. If the economic recovery lags, the Legislature could well be looking at another deficit when it convenes again in 2013.”  (4/14 Yakima Herald Republic)
  • “But how did they cover that half-billion-dollar budget deficit? The largest single revenue source was $238 million gained in an accounting maneuver: After collecting sales taxes, the state would hold them for about a month before redistributing them back to local governments — another short-term gimmick to balance the budget. The good news here is that critical health programs for residents most in need were largely preserved, as was education funding. The bad news is that legislators still don’t know how to achieve a sustainable budget — and they take far too long in deciding how not to do it.” (4/11 Kitsap Sun)

Reform

  • “Some meaningful reform measures — not enough, in our view — were adopted. The first steps toward a compromise on health insurance benefits for K-12 workers were taken, and lawmakers agreed on reducing early-retirement benefits for state workers. It’s good that pension benefits will be reduced for state workers who retire before age 62, although it’s frustrating that this will apply only to workers hired starting in May 2013. Still, the impact is significant: an estimated $1.3 billion over 25 years. Another encouraging reform: The state’s two-year budgets will be required to conform with anticipated revenues over a four-year period, or 4.5 percent growth per year, whichever is greater. Nevertheless, progress on reforms was relatively minor. Washingtonians should aspire to more reforms next year, ones that will make the spending of tax dollars more predictable and sustainable. This year’s accounting change, for example, was a one-time maneuver that cannot be repeated.” (4/12 Columbian)
  • “What’s different this time is that the Legislature took the first step down the path of honest, sustainable budgeting. That occurred only because three fiscally conservative Democratic senators crossed the aisle. They defected because that was the only hope for budget reform. Senate Republicans had put together a package of reforms, and now had the votes to insist on them. Not all reforms made it through. Some were watered down. But some worthwhile changes were ultimately adopted by the Legislature on Wednesday.”  (4/12 Spokesman Review)
  • “They succeeded in reducing pension payouts for future state workers who take early retirement, which should save more than $1 billion over 25 years. (The timing was excellent, given Wednesday’s warning from the International Monetary Fund that governments worldwide are underestimating the life expectancy of their retirees, and need to scale back such perks to avoid fiscal disaster.) And they forced a more sober look at the impact of future budgets, passing a bill that requires future spending plans to match projected revenue over four years. Other reforms, passed earlier, also represent important steps forward. At the top of the list: a more meaningful system of teacher and principal evaluations was approved.” (4/12 Everett Herald)
  • “The Senate Republicans and Road Killers held out for some fiscally prudent concessions as the clock was running out Wednesday, including a constitutional debt limit and restrictions on early retirement for future state employees. Most important, future lawmakers will find it harder to create unsustainable spending obligations, thanks to a measure sponsored by Kastama. This law will require the Legislature to balance the estimated cost of state services against estimated state revenues over a four-year look-ahead instead of the current two years.” (4/15 Tacoma News Tribune)
  • “When it’s all boiled down to its essence, Democrats in the House staved off further deep cuts to education, social service and environmental programs and the late-to-the-dance Senate majority of 25 gained some major reform measures that seem reasonable. For instance, headway was made on some structural reform in the way that future state budgets will be built. Moving forward, lawmakers will have to approve a budget built on revenue projections for a four-year period, instead of two. It has the potential to keep legislators from deferring budget problems into the future and it could help control state government costs. Pension reformers also scored a victory they say could save the state $1.3 billion over the next 25 years. Under the bill, state employees who retire early will be eligible for less of their pension than before. The measure affects future, not current, state workers and is a portent of a day when state workers will have to work as hard at building their retirement nest egg as most employees in the private sector do.” (4/15 Olympian)
  • “State taxpayers got something unusual from the Legislature this year — real reform. There’s plenty to harp on — it took lawmakers too long to reach a deal on state spending, the rush to adjourn cut the public out of the final steps and special interests too often trumped the public’s interest. But after years of temporary fixes and repeatedly postponing the difficult choices required to bring state spending under control, lawmakers approved meaningful changes this year. Are the state’s financial troubles behind us? Not even close, but we’re happy to be in the glass-half-full camp after last week’s budget compromise.” (4/15 Tri-City Herald)

Additional Information

How a bill SHOULD become a law
Things were thrown in the budget deal at the last moment…
Evolution of the 2012 supplemental budget
Budget balance sheet has lawmakers rooting for Spain and increased oil supply
201 days later we have a budget and structural reforms

###

[Reprinted from the Washington Policy Center blog; feature photo credit:

Here is a snap shot of how the state budget agreement is playing across the state:

Transparency

  • “Everybody was for transparency – the open discussion and full vetting of the issues contained in legislation – in January. It’s similar to the way every baseball fan thinks his team has a shot at the World Series in April. By the time the special session rolled around in March, and the first three weeks were spent in closed-door negotiations, budget writers had retreated to the fall-back position that they’d held some hearings on some versions of these bills at some time in the not too distant past. On the final days, there was no pretense that most members, let alone the public, had even a peek at some legislation that was about to be pushed through the sausage grinder. A 280-page budget showed up on legislators’ desks at 12:20 a.m. Wednesday morning. Gov. Chris Gregoire revealed in her post-session press conference that they had to make changes in one final piece of ‘reform’ legislation in a 2 a.m. conference, and even she didn’t know what legislators had stuck in the budget that night. This is standard operating procedure for the Legislature’s end game. It’s time to acknowledge that transparency isn’t a policy, it’s just a slogan.” (4/14 Spokesman Review)
  • “The way lawmakers solved a $1 billion budget crisis did little for open, transparent government. Closed-door meetings ruled the day and most state legislators had next to nothing to do with negotiating the final package. Maybe, just maybe, the set of circumstances, including the massive budget shortfall and the odd majority coalition of 22 Republicans and three maverick Democrats in the Senate, left legislators with less room to operate in the open. Politics on the ragged edge naturally gravitates to these darker places where the public is left waiting in the wings. Regardless, it shouldn’t take multiple special sessions to reach agreement.” (4/15 Olympian)

Sustainability

  • “The budget is balanced, but not perfectly so. There remains justifiable concern about putting only $320 million in reserves. The Washington Policy Center reports that this is half of the 2 percent of spending that was called for in the governor’s original proposal, which in itself was below the 5 percent that many economists recommend for reserves.” (4/12 Columbian)
  • “Lawmakers did not, however, leave themselves much budget breathing room. Just $320 million was left in reserve — only about 1 percent of total spending. That could vanish quickly if the fragile economic recovery stalls. Plenty of fingers will be crossed in anticipation of the June revenue forecast. With slower hiring, rising gas prices and continued uncertainty in Europe, another round of cuts is hardly out of the question.” (4/12 Spokesman Review)
  • “In the end, the coalition of Republicans and moderate Democrats in the state Senate achieved much of what they needed to slow the growth of future state spending. The mainline Democrats saved most of the spending they wanted for now. The end was a triumph of the middle, assisted over the last several days by Gov. Chris Gregoire’s necessary intrusions. This page has argued for months that the budget should make no more cuts to schools and higher education. We also said the state should not raise broad-based taxes and not skip a pension payment or push expenses into the next budget period. The Legislature avoided all of those options.” (4/11 Seattle Times)
  • “Just one anxiety: Lawmakers left town with just $320 million in reserve – barely more than 1 percent of the operating budget. The economy hiccups once, and that money vanishes. Never say that this Legislature refused to expand gambling.” (4/15 Tacoma News Tribune)
  • “There’s plenty of risk folded into this volatile budget. Lawmakers shaved the state reserve fund down to about $320 million for $31.1 billion of spending. That compares with some $600 million in reserves that the governor proposed when she first introduced her supplemental budget in November 2011. The Legislature is betting that a slowly thawing economy won’t slip back into the deep freeze due to rising oil prices or financial instability in Europe or any host of forces that could suddenly surface.” (4/15 Olympian)
  • “One thing may keep lawmakers up at night: The amount left in reserves is on the low side, $320 million out of a $31.1 billion budget, one reason why four local Republican legislators opposed it. If the economic recovery lags, the Legislature could well be looking at another deficit when it convenes again in 2013.”  (4/14 Yakima Herald Republic)
  • “But how did they cover that half-billion-dollar budget deficit? The largest single revenue source was $238 million gained in an accounting maneuver: After collecting sales taxes, the state would hold them for about a month before redistributing them back to local governments — another short-term gimmick to balance the budget. The good news here is that critical health programs for residents most in need were largely preserved, as was education funding. The bad news is that legislators still don’t know how to achieve a sustainable budget — and they take far too long in deciding how not to do it.” (4/11 Kitsap Sun)

Reform

  • “Some meaningful reform measures — not enough, in our view — were adopted. The first steps toward a compromise on health insurance benefits for K-12 workers were taken, and lawmakers agreed on reducing early-retirement benefits for state workers. It’s good that pension benefits will be reduced for state workers who retire before age 62, although it’s frustrating that this will apply only to workers hired starting in May 2013. Still, the impact is significant: an estimated $1.3 billion over 25 years. Another encouraging reform: The state’s two-year budgets will be required to conform with anticipated revenues over a four-year period, or 4.5 percent growth per year, whichever is greater. Nevertheless, progress on reforms was relatively minor. Washingtonians should aspire to more reforms next year, ones that will make the spending of tax dollars more predictable and sustainable. This year’s accounting change, for example, was a one-time maneuver that cannot be repeated.” (4/12 Columbian)
  • “What’s different this time is that the Legislature took the first step down the path of honest, sustainable budgeting. That occurred only because three fiscally conservative Democratic senators crossed the aisle. They defected because that was the only hope for budget reform. Senate Republicans had put together a package of reforms, and now had the votes to insist on them. Not all reforms made it through. Some were watered down. But some worthwhile changes were ultimately adopted by the Legislature on Wednesday.”  (4/12 Spokesman Review)
  • “They succeeded in reducing pension payouts for future state workers who take early retirement, which should save more than $1 billion over 25 years. (The timing was excellent, given Wednesday’s warning from the International Monetary Fund that governments worldwide are underestimating the life expectancy of their retirees, and need to scale back such perks to avoid fiscal disaster.) And they forced a more sober look at the impact of future budgets, passing a bill that requires future spending plans to match projected revenue over four years. Other reforms, passed earlier, also represent important steps forward. At the top of the list: a more meaningful system of teacher and principal evaluations was approved.” (4/12 Everett Herald)
  • “The Senate Republicans and Road Killers held out for some fiscally prudent concessions as the clock was running out Wednesday, including a constitutional debt limit and restrictions on early retirement for future state employees. Most important, future lawmakers will find it harder to create unsustainable spending obligations, thanks to a measure sponsored by Kastama. This law will require the Legislature to balance the estimated cost of state services against estimated state revenues over a four-year look-ahead instead of the current two years.” (4/15 Tacoma News Tribune)
  • “When it’s all boiled down to its essence, Democrats in the House staved off further deep cuts to education, social service and environmental programs and the late-to-the-dance Senate majority of 25 gained some major reform measures that seem reasonable. For instance, headway was made on some structural reform in the way that future state budgets will be built. Moving forward, lawmakers will have to approve a budget built on revenue projections for a four-year period, instead of two. It has the potential to keep legislators from deferring budget problems into the future and it could help control state government costs. Pension reformers also scored a victory they say could save the state $1.3 billion over the next 25 years. Under the bill, state employees who retire early will be eligible for less of their pension than before. The measure affects future, not current, state workers and is a portent of a day when state workers will have to work as hard at building their retirement nest egg as most employees in the private sector do.” (4/15 Olympian)
  • “State taxpayers got something unusual from the Legislature this year — real reform. There’s plenty to harp on — it took lawmakers too long to reach a deal on state spending, the rush to adjourn cut the public out of the final steps and special interests too often trumped the public’s interest. But after years of temporary fixes and repeatedly postponing the difficult choices required to bring state spending under control, lawmakers approved meaningful changes this year. Are the state’s financial troubles behind us? Not even close, but we’re happy to be in the glass-half-full camp after last week’s budget compromise.” (4/15 Tri-City Herald)

Additional Information

How a bill SHOULD become a law
Things were thrown in the budget deal at the last moment…
Evolution of the 2012 supplemental budget
Budget balance sheet has lawmakers rooting for Spain and increased oil supply
201 days later we have a budget and structural reforms

###

[Reprinted from the Washington Policy Center blog; feature photo credit: Sean MacEntee]