It’s hard to imagine the enormity of this challenge. Here are some numbers that put it into perspective:
- We could cut our entire public higher education system – all six of the four-year institutions and all 34 of the two-year community and technical colleges – and we’d solve just about 50% of the shortfall.
- We could close down our entire state corrections system – all nine prisons, three minimum custody camps, and fifteen work release centers – and we’d solve about 33% of the shortfall.
- We could eliminate all state environmental efforts – all programs to promote clean air and water, clean up pollution, encourage conservation, and preserve our natural resources – and we’d solve less that 10% of the shortfall.
from Reuven Carlyle for more on UW budgets, click here or read the rest of Reuven’s letter by clicking ” read more”
March 25, 2011
Legislative Newsletter
Dear Friends:
Greetings from Olympia! We are getting ready for the home stretch down here as we hear the last rounds of legislation in committee before we head to the House floor to vote for good next week, and budget negotiations for the coming biennium are starting to click into high gear. I miss seeing my family every day and the simple joys of walking around my home neighborhood, but that only strengthens my resolve to finish our work here as quickly and effectively as possible.
Read on for some of the latest news on what is happening in the legislature as a whole, and in my office as well.
Revenue forecast will force more budget cuts
The latest revenue forecast was released last week and, as expected, there was more unfortunate news. Dr. Arun Raha, our state’s chief economist and Executive Director of the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council, predicted that revenue for the next two fiscal years (the 2011-13 biennium) will be $698.4 million less than previously thought.
That means that the next biennium’s shortfall between revenue that is expected to come in and the amount necessary to maintain the state budget at its current level has increased to about $5.4 billion. Keep in mind that the “current level” has already been reduced by $5.1 billion in cuts and savings to every area of state government including natural resources, health care, corrections, education and general government.
At the council meeting, Dr. Arun Raha made the following statements:
- There is still a high degree of uncertainty associated with this forecast, including the tragedy in Japan and the political unrest in the Middle East.
- Gas prices are rising – the forecast assumes higher prices.
- Construction employment is still very low and is dragging down the state’s economy.
- On-line sales have been growing, causing even more leakage in the state’s revenues. The Department of Revenue estimates that we will lose $740 million in revenue in the 2011-13 biennium – more than the enough to compensate for the lower forecast.
- This forecast does assume the Boeing tanker deal, but the bulk of the impact won’t be seen till after next biennium.
It’s hard to imagine the enormity of this challenge. Here are some numbers that put it into perspective:
- We could cut our entire public higher education system – all six of the four-year institutions and all 34 of the two-year community and technical colleges – and we’d solve just about 50% of the shortfall.
- We could close down our entire state corrections system – all nine prisons, three minimum custody camps, and fifteen work release centers – and we’d solve about 33% of the shortfall.
- We could eliminate all state environmental efforts – all programs to promote clean air and water, clean up pollution, encourage conservation, and preserve our natural resources – and we’d solve less that 10% of the shortfall.
- We could do ALL of these things and it still wouldn’t bring our budget into balance.
It will take a lot of work to meet this challenge, but it’s our job to make responsible decisions for these tough times.
Fast fact: The Washington state budget is less now, on a per-person basis, than it has been since 1986!
State unemployment numbers drop slightly
There was a little bit of good news this week, though. The state’s Employment Security Department released its latest jobs report showing another slight decline in unemployment from 9.2 percent in January to 9.1 percent in February. This is a relatively significant improvement from last February when unemployment was 10 percent.
The most significant gains were in the construction industry, welcome news for a group of workers hit hard in the aftermath of the recession.
This chart shows how both Seattle’s and Washington state’s unemployment rates have compared with the rest of the country during the Great Recession.
Reuven’s Bills
In addition to all the budget work that I have been concentrating on these last few weeks, I also have a few bills that are still alive and working their way toward passage this session. Here are some highlights:
- HB 1795 is a bill that gives greater tuition setting authority to our 4-year colleges, which will allow them to better educate their students, and help provide better financial aid opportunities to students from middle class families.
- HB 1593 would give school districts the ability to hire great leaders with non-traditional backgrounds as school principals on a provisional basis.
- HB 1357 expands our state’s ability to collect taxes electronically to cut down on costs and paperwork.
I am also working on a bill that would sunset our state’s tax exemptions in order to increase transparency and accountability. Many of our tax breaks serve tremendously important purposes, but at the same time many of them are distressingly outdated. This legislation would make it so that we treat tax exemptions like the spending decisions they are. Will we continue to give a multi-million dollar break to an industry that can’t make a case for its return on investment, or will we better fund schools and health care? These are the questions we ought to be asking on a regular basis in Olympia.
Another priority of mine is helping to pass Rep. Jamie Pederson’s HB 1783, which will recognize houseboats as a protected, legitimate use of shorelines. Seattle, other cities, and the state are currently updating their shoreline regulations under the Shoreline Management Act, and this piece of legislation will help to preserve an important piece of our history while also protecting the environmental integrity our shorelines.
As always, you can see a full list of my sponsored legislation here.
In the Media
See below for a collection of some media stories that have touched on the work I am doing at the legislature:
- Here is an an op-ed I wrote for the Ballard News-Tribune about the difficult decisions we face on the state budget.
- Governing magazine interviewed me for a story they wrote on state technology management.
- Tacoma News-Tribune piece on the tax exemption bill.
- Seattle Times editorial on my proposal for GET
- Times opinion piece supporting my work on re-examining tax loopholes.
- Olympian article on some of the work I am doing on our higher education system.
Of course, I always try to keep the world up to date on my thoughts at my blog, reuvencarlyle36.com.
Tell Me What You Think
Finally, I would like to thank all of those who have taken the time to call, e-mail, and even visit Olympia to talk with my staff and me, and share your passions and tremendous personal stories. Please continue to visit, write, and call in with your questions and concerns to [email protected] and (360) 786-7814. I deeply and sincerely appreciate your efforts to contact your representative in the legislature. Enjoy the coming spring, and keep speaking out on the issues that matter to you.
Your partner in service,
Reuven