OLYMPIA — The state House on Tuesday evening passed a budget plan that seeks to trim about $480 million from the state’s $1.4 billion deficit.
The measure passed on an 86-8 bipartisan vote, but many Republicans who voted in favor of the measure expressed reservations about not getting more done during the special legislative session that started Nov. 28.
“When we came here, people said go fix this thing, get it done. Get your house in financial order,” said Rep. Bill Hinkle, R-Cle Elum. “Now we’ve got to go home and say we tried, kind of.”
The measure now heads to the Senate for consideration. Lawmakers are seeking to send the bill to the governor later this week, though they will have to return in January to make deeper cuts.
The largest reductions lawmakers passed Tuesday would save about $50 million by delaying school bus payments by several months, pushing one payment into the next budget cycle. Meanwhile, the budget will save $23 million by delaying new rules for mental health assessments, which were expected to increase reliance on psychiatric care.
Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Seattle and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, called the measure a partial down payment “on the daunting budget problem that faces us this year.”
“This has been the beginning of our budget process and I think we’re far from the end,” he said. “I share everyone’s concern that the longer we wait the more difficult it becomes.”
Rep. Gary Alexander, R-Olympia, said he was “frustrated and disappointed” with the small amount lawmakers were addressing.
“We’re going to start down this path, but we’ve left the heavy lifting ahead of us,” he said.
The plan would also collect $83 million that went unspent at agencies last year and raise another $51 million by transferring unclaimed securities to the state’s general fund. Banks and other businesses that have unclaimed investments or other property hold onto it for three years before sending it to the state. The state usually holds it for another three years but will now just transfer it to the general fund while still allowing people to claim it.
There are a variety of agency cuts, including $2.6 million saved through staff reductions at the Department of Ecology, including those who work on air and water quality. Funding cuts of 10 percent for administration at the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, saving $600,000.
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