More than 8,000 jobs may be lost in state budget cuts

By Brad Shannon | The Olympian • Published March 22, 2009

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The budget plans soon to be released by state lawmakers could slash more than 8,000 jobs in state agencies, colleges and public schools as legislators search for additional cuts to cover the most recent drop in state revenue.

The projected state budget shortfall grew by $552 million, according to the latest revenue forecast, which means the number of layoffs could go even higher, Democratic Sen. Rodney Tom of Medina said Friday. In Thurston County, nearly 24,000 people are employed by state government, according to the Thurston Regional Planning Council.

A tax-increase proposal for the November ballot also is beginning to hatch in the House. Majority Democrats hope to release that plan publicly once detailed budgets are made public late this week.

Even with the distant hope of new revenue, Democratic lawmakers are writing their 2009-11 budgets on the assumption that they have a $9 billion shortfall and no extra money. Pay increases for state workers and public school teachers disappeared from the table months ago.

Now, Tom and others say they are looking at thousands of agency job cuts, elimination of at least 10,000 college enrollment slots, sharp reductions in subsidized health care for the poor, cuts to public school money, closure of many parks, and even less state supervision of criminal offenders let out of jail.

Gov. Chris Gregoire proposed eliminating about 2,600 jobs in her budget proposed in December. But the state has seen $2.9 billion in expected revenue disappear since then, forcing even deeper cuts in spending.

"It's far above the governor's number. You have to remember we're at the governor, plus 62 percent. That's where we need to go," Tom said, estimating that $4.2 billion must be cut from existing programs to accommodate growth in caseloads and inflation, while revenue is flat. "In some areas, we're trying to be as judicious as we can. But when we don't make that (62 percent) number in one area, you have to go close to 100 percent in another."

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