Senate first out of gate with supplemental budget proposal
The Senate Democratic majority on Monday (Feb. 19) released its proposed supplemental budget – the off-year budget that tweaks the major two-year operating budget adopted last year.
The House plan is expected tomorrow.
Overall, the Senate plan (SB 6032) appears to use increased revenue to help people. We’ll scour it for the pluses and minuses and outline them at the Senate Ways and Means Committee hearing scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. We’ll do the same at the House Appropriations Committee on the House supplemental budget proposal coming out Tuesday (Feb. 20).
The Senate plan commits to fund services for vulnerable citizens and neglected and abused children.
It includes more beds in mental health and for clients in state residential habilitation centers (RHCs) who want to move into State Operated Living Alternatives (SOLA) facilities staffed by AFSCME Council 28 (WFSE) members.
Some other top lines in the Senate supplemental budget proposal: in Higher Education, funds would be increased for the state needs grant for students; adds increases in the new Department of Children, Youth and Families; expands work release capacity in the Department of Corrections; provides funding for one-time backfills for three Veterans Department facilities in Retsil, Orting and Walla Walla; covers fire suppression and response in the Department of Natural Resources; addresses emergency management and disaster relief; and funds a one-time benefit increase for PERS 1 retirees.
We’ll take a close look at concurrent sentencing proposals that might cause job cuts in Community Corrections. And as always we’ll scrutinize funding of our health benefits.
Details online: http://leap.leg.wa.gov/leap/budget/detail/2018/so2018p.asp
More to come at tomorrow’s budget hearings.
