TVW Air ScheduleState Auditor Brian Sonntag just testified on the Senate budget proposal. He said the cuts to his agency were “disappointing” because the state didn’t take into account how much money the auditor’s office saves the state in the long run.
He’s referring to the $3.6 billion identified through performance audits of state agencies.
Tags: Budget
Terry Teale, who testified on behalf of higher education, asked the Senate Ways & Means Committee to let them raise tuition an extra 7 percent — for a total of 14 percent increase per year. Teale is the executive director of the Council of Presidents at four-year institutions. (Thanks, Chris, for the spelling and title!)
She said that would cost less than a single extra quarter or semester. The reductions in higher education will likely cause graduation delays, so she said increasing tuition by an extra 7 percent could be a cheaper alternative.
Randy Hodgins, UW lobbyist, said the cuts being considered would cost about 1,000 UW employees their jobs.
But Sen. Rodney Tom told the higher education advocates that the math didn’t work out for the state — specifically, it requires the state to raise the liability on the GET (tuition guarantee) program by more than $100 million.
Tags: Budget, Higher Education
Bill Lyne with the United Faculty of Washington State, just told the Senate Ways & Means Committee that the proposed budget would “destroy public higher education in this state … this will cut into the bone of higher education.”
He also said that the cuts being considered — which the Senate estimates would reduce college space by about 10,000 students — would be among the worst in the nation to higher education.
Tags: Budget, Higher Education
After the first few people testified about cutting initiatives 732 and 728 (which both direct more money to schools), Sen. Margarita Prentice took a moment to deliver a message to those waiting to testify.
For the initiatives (to increase teacher pay and reduce class sizes), “No revenue stream was provided and people voted for them. And then, of course, it was a scramble to take from everybody else for us to do this. We all agree, and it is in our Constitution, that education is our paramount duty. But I think we need to start playing straightforward with the public when there is such an initiative, to talk about where the money is coming from. And it if is your intent to take it from other programs that people care also dearly about, we better be straight with the public also. You’re right, it’s a very difficult position that we’re in, but one of the things is we’re having to pay the price for people not having been dealt with honestly ….
“This is an extraordinary event, and as many of you want to point out — and it’s OK we can hear it again — that the stimulus money is one-time money. Yes, we know that — better than anyone else, but we have to work with what we’ve got right now.”
Tags: Budget
Mary Lindquist, head of the Washington Education Association, just testified on the proposed Senate budget, released yesterday.
Last night’s testimony, by the way, lasted about 3 1/2 hours. This is the second — and final scheduled — public hearing.
Lindquist said teachers and students would suffer if the cuts are carried out. But, she said, if the cuts must be made, teachers need to know the state will step up and reinstate the funding when they can.
More to come. You can watch live at TVW or tvw.org right now.
Tags: Budget
Tags: DSHS
Tags: Budget
Here’s what Rep. Gary Alexander’s office sent out on his reaction to the House budget. Alexander is the ranking Republican on the Ways & Means Committee:
“Washington citizens need long-term leadership, not short-term fixes. Placing a Band-Aid on our budget problems in hopes of a better economy in the future, or for voter-approved tax increases down the road, is the wrong approach.
“It appears House Democrat budget writers followed a similar formula to their Senate Democrat counterparts in that they rely entirely too much upon one-time state and federal money. They propose to spend $5 billion that we know will not be available the next time we sit down to write a budget. What happens then? We’re delaying the inevitable and setting ourselves up for more problems tomorrow by not exercising true leadership today.
“I’m also dismayed at the cavalier attitude the majority party is showing in regards to referencing and spending federal tax dollars. I think we need to remember that no government — local, state or federal — has any money of its own. It all comes from taxpayers at some point. It seems their attitude is to thank President Obama for his generosity at the taxpayers’ expense because he helped cover the mistakes they made in the last four years of unfettered spending.
“We’re settling for the easy way out if we just focus on the reductions being made and not on the opportunity we have to make state government more accountable, more efficient and more responsible to the people.
“Yes, both the House and Senate budgets made cuts. But the families in our state are doing much more than just cutting things in their own budgets to get by. Families are prioritizing their needs, they’re finding different ways to get things done, and they’re changing the way they go about their daily routines to streamline their own finances. Families realize that ‘business as usual’ won’t work for them. Shouldn’t state government do the same?
“I said it when the Senate released their budget and I’ll say it again: Borrowing against our future, relying upon one-time money, and hoping for a tax increase at the ballot is not the type of leadership our state needs right now.”
Tags: Budget
This was just sent out by the Governor’s office:
“I congratulate Representative Linville, Representative Ericks, the House Ways & Means Committee and House leadership on the development of their budget proposal. I appreciate their hard work in constructing their budget in these difficult economic times.
“Now that both the House and Senate have released their budgets, I look forward to working collaboratively with both chambers to enact a final operating budget that will see us through this recession. In particular, I want to make sure that we protect education. If we want quality education in our state, we must be prepared to pay for it. The return on investment is there – for our families, our businesses and our future.”
Austin Jenkins asked how the House could make small cuts — like eliminating the HPV vaccine and mammograms from the Basic Health Plan — while maintaining the health insurance for state workers. That plan requires state employees to pay about 12 percent.
The Senate budget calls for state workers to pay more for health care. The House’s budget does, too — but not as much as the Senate. (Corrected from an earlier version. Thanks, AP!)
Linville said the cuts were considered carefully and that there are already many cuts to state programs.
Rep. Eric Pettigrew said the budget-writers “really took a surgeon’s approach to our reductions,” he said.
The press conference concluded after that.
Tags: Budget
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