OLYMPIA — Senate Democrats barely passed a plan Saturday for erasing the red ink in the state’s budget without deciding exactly where they will get all the money to do it.
On a 25-19 margin, the Senate approved a blueprint for combining spending cuts, federal funds, reserves and transfers to fill most of the $2.8 billion hole in the budget that runs through June 2011.
It also counts on hauling in at least $940 million in new revenue, which senators did not discuss or vote on Saturday, to the chagrin of Republicans.
“We are spending, and then we are going to tax,” said Sen. Val Stevens, R-Arlington.
Majority Democrats got the minimum 25 votes needed to pass it, but not without some drama. Two Democrats, Sens. Chris Marr of Spokane and Claudia Kauffman of Kent, initially voted “no,” then switched.
Fifteen Republicans and four Democrats voted against the bill, including Stevens and Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens.
Clearly, some moderate Democrats supported the budget very reluctantly.
One of those, Sen. Jean Berkey, D-Everett, made a rare, and brief, speech, saying she wanted to keep the process moving forward as the Legislature enters the final 12 days of the scheduled 60-day session.
“I do have concerns about the revenue that do need to be addressed before my next vote,” she said.
Last week, Senate Democrats proposed raising the money with a three-year increase in the sales tax, a $1 per pack hike in cigarette tax and ending 27 tax exemptions. Votes on bills to collect the revenue have not been scheduled, indicating there may not be support in the caucus.
That may not be enough money. At a Senate budget committee hearing Friday, Democrats restored what Republican members estimated was $70 million in spending.
These included a number of expenditures, ranging from $250,000 for a commission to study government reform to $25.8 million in additional school levy equalization payments.
In the meantime, House Democratic leaders continue searching for a tax package that a majority of their members support.
During the debate on the Senate budget Saturday, Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, said the budget takes a “humane and compassionate” approach to balancing a second year of spending cuts with preservation of vital programs with new revenue.
“The goal of this budget is to move the process forward, to lead the state through very difficult times,” she said.
The taxes are targeted for state-subsidized health insurance for the poor, financial aid for college students, human service programs for the elderly and disabled, school levy equalization and all-day kindergarten.
Also Saturday, the Senate overwhelmingly passed a transportation budget containing $500,000 to find ways to make it easier for drivers going in and out of the Frontier Village shopping center in Lake Stevens.
The money would enable the Department of Transportation to start the process of designing improvements to the intersection of Highway 9 and Highway 204 in front of the center.
Those dollars are included in a budget outlining $8.6 billion in spending statewide between July 1, 2009, and June 30, 2011. That amount is roughly $1 billion more than the budget senators approved last year, with the increase due primarily to new federal funds for rail projects and restructuring of spending on major road projects.
Also included in the budget is money for hiring extra workers at the Mukilteo ferry terminal, where the number of cars in holding lanes has increased since new lanes opened last year.
Dealing with another ferry-related matter, senators patched a $38 million hole in the Washington State Ferries fuel budget with money from road maintenance and preservation reserves, delaying a possible fuel surcharge fee until at least July 2011. Gov. Chris Gregoire’s proposed budget endorsed putting a surcharge in place this May.
The budget also provides $3.6 million for training a new class of Washington State Patrol troopers.
Both budgets passed Saturday now go to the House of Representatives for action.
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
How they voted
Yes: Rosemary McAuliffe, D-Bothell; Jean Berkey, D-Everett; Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island; Darlene Fairley, D-Lake Forest Park; Paull Shin, D-Edmonds
No: Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens; Val Stevens, R-Arlington
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