WAWG
By Diana Carlen
WAWG Lobbyist
The list of active bills has been further narrowed after the deadline for bills to pass their house of origin was reached last Wednesday. Policy committees have resumed public hearings on legislation from the opposite house. The next deadlines are Friday, Feb. 26, when bills must get out of their policy committee and Monday, Feb. 29, for bills to get out of fiscal committees unless budget related.
Revenue Forecast Released
Lawmakers received a revenue forecast last week showing that budget negotiators have less money to craft a supplemental budget for the current budget cycle and significantly less money for the following biennium. Specifically, the current two year budget for the state that ends in the middle of 2017 falls about $78 million short of what was originally predicated. The forecast for the next biennium (2017-2019) was lowered by $436 million.
This latest forecast is used to develop the supplement budget. The House of Representatives unveiled their proposed supplemental budget Monday that raises teacher salaries and uses rainy day funds to pay for wildfire costs and homeless programs, among other things. The Senate is expected to release their proposed supplemental budget in the near future and then the serious budget negotiations will resume to arrive at a final supplemental budget.
Legislature Approves Basic Education Plan
This week the Legislature passed a basic education funding plan (SB 6195) in response to the Supreme Court’s McCleary decision. The legislation does not actually specify how to fund basic education, but instead has been called a “plan for a plan.” Specifically, the legislation creates a legislative task force to continue work on the funding issue prior to the 2017 legislative session and requires a solution for education funding by the end of the 2017 session. It is unclear if this legislation will cause the Washington State Supreme Court to lift the contempt finding against the State.