Revenue collection down 1.1 percent for the quarter — is another special session on the way?

Arun Raha, the state’s chief economic forecaster, presented the economic forecast today — it’s the precursor to the Economic and Revenue Forecast that will be released on June 17.

The news: Washington’s revenue collections for the first quarter of the year are about $48 million less than expected — or 1.1 percent. Read the whole report here.

In related news, earlier this week Gov. Chris Gregoire said that if $480 million that state budget writers were counting on from the federal government for Medicaid doesn’t materialize — as is called for in the budget – then another special session may be necessary.

Here’s the short story.

And here’s a longer version by Michelle Dupler. She writes that the state would be about $30 million in the red if the FMAP extension doesn’t pass. (And that was written before today’s forecast.)

Stay tuned.

Tags: economic forecast, special session