There should be good news for Washington’s budget writers when a new revenue forecast is released Wednesday morning.
Tax collections are $218 million higher than predicted in the last forecast issued in February due in part to stronger-than-expected bumps in retail spending and sales of commercial and residential properties.
That’s created expectations that lawmakers will have a little more money to spend in the current budget that runs through mid-2017, and the next two-year fiscal cycle as well.
While it’s a positive trend, the governor’s budget director doesn’t think it will produce enough additional money to cover all the expenses in the next budget plus the multi-billion dollar bill in the McCleary school funding case that will be due.
“It’s coming in 10s and 20s which is always good but it’s not solving all the problems,” said David Schumacher, director of the Office of Financial Management. “Our ability to do anything new other than McCleary is very unlikely. We aren’t going to have any money to buy new stuff. This is the new reality.”
On Friday, Schumacher advised agency directors, university and college presidents, and leaders of state boards and commissions to not request funds in the next budget for adding or expanding programs.
“We expect enormous pressure on General Fund resources as the McCleary funding commitments are met. Agencies should severely limit requests for new or expanded programs or for new policy initiatives,” Schumacher told them in his June 10 letter.
The three-page letter contained a list of do’s and don’ts to guide them in drafting requests that are due in early September. Schumacher urged them to look for cost-effective ways to save resources and not request restoration of prior cuts or past unfunded inflationary increases.
In an interview, Schumacher said that as of now there is no plan to ask them to contemplate cutting their budgets. That could change if something dramatic happened to put additional pressure on state spending, he said.
Funding obligations wrought by the McCleary case is pressure enough.
The state Supreme Court has set a 2018 deadline for the state to amply fund a program of basic education in public schools. Next year it needs to come up with a means to pay the salaries of classroom teachers and administrators which are now paid in part by school districts’ using local tax levies.
It’s the most complicated and politically charged step and why Schumacher said they’re taking a very conservative approach to budgeting.
“We’re being careful and trying to get ahead of this early,” he said.
The Economic and Revenue Forecast Council will receive the latest forecast in its 10 a.m. meeting Wednesday. The report will be available here.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
