Today marks the beginning of what will hopefully be less than 105 days of the Legislature being in session. The first, second and third topic on the agenda will be the state budget.
A combination of past spending decisions and a historic economic downturn has left lawmakers in Olympia facing many difficult choices to reset state spending. Though tax revenues dropped substantially for the 2009-11 budget, they are projected to increase by $4.5 billion for the 2011-13 budget. While this should be cause for celebration, lawmakers for years have been spending more than taxpayers were providing, creating a structural budget gap that now threatens popular programs. This past overspending has been exacerbated by the “great recession.”
Regardless of the budget reductions made during the 2011 Legislative Session, Washingtonians will inevitably face the same budget debate in the near future unless comprehensive structural budget reforms are adopted to help properly frame the budget debate in a sustainable manner.
We will have more to say about this in the coming weeks, but in the meantime here is a quick snapshot of the budget:
