Here’s the good news: the Legislature finally passed a budget.
Here’s the bad news: The public doesn’t have a clear idea as to what it says.
Once again we will have to trust that legislators did the right thing. After all, the budget deal didn’t get finalized until the wee hours on Wednesday and the public didn’t get a chance to read, let along comment, on the details.
If there’s any consolation, it’s that the budget deal is a compromise between the House and Senate, and Democrats and Republicans. That means there was give and get all around. As Rep. Ross Hunter, head of the House Ways and Means Committee, put it, “I think we accomplished that.”
To their credit, legislators preserved key health programs such as Disability Lifeline. That program provides help to those on the bottom rung of the economic ladder who aren’t able to work. Without state help their future is bleak.
The budget also funds education with no cuts. Yes, times are tight, but we can’t shortchange our future by gutting our kids’ education.
The Legislature also passed the $1 billion Jobs Now package which, we hope, will put tens of thousands of people to work.
Doing any of this was complicated by the need for lawmakers to close a roughly half-billion dollar shortfall for the two-year budget cycle that ends June 2013. They did this, but it included at least one budget trick.
The state is going to hold on to $238 million in local sales taxes for about a month after they are collected before sending the money to other jurisdictions. The accounting maneuver gives the budget a temporary boost.
The budget also boosts a few taxes. One is projected to raise $14.5 million by eliminating a tax deduction for some large banks. The other anticipates an additional $12 million by changing rules on roll-your-own cigarettes.
We hope that’s true, but revenue streams in budgets don’t always come true.
The budget also scales back pension benefits for state workers hired after 2013 that will keep them from collecting a full pension even when they retire early. Sounds like what the private sector does now.
A final point worth noting: the budget leaves about $320 million in reserves. A bank account is always a good thing, for states as well as people.
– Craig Groshart, Issaquah & Sammamish Reporter
