Billions in aid does little to close gap

Gregoire still mulling deep cuts to balance budget

By Joseph Turner | The News Tribune • Published March 15, 2009

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Three billion dollars.

It ain't chump change. Then again, the amount of money that Washington is getting from Congress to help with its roughly $8 billion operating budget shortfall isn't what many legislators had hoped for.

"While people may have been very optimistic that the feds were going to come in with dump-truck loads of money, it isn't happening," Gov. Chris Gregoire told reporters last week.

Washington did get a lot of money from the federal stimulus package � almost $5 billion. But about $2 billion is going to highway, water, sewer, school and other construction projects or must be spent on other things that make it of little direct help to the state operating budget. For instance, some of the money is passing through the state treasury but is headed straight to cities, counties, transit districts and others to help with their budget problems.

Moreover, the $3 billion that is helpful to the state is limited to a three-year period, and the Legislature has spent $340 million of it.

Today marks the beginning of the 10th week of a 15-week legislative session, and work on the 2009-11 budget will begin in earnest after Thursday. That's when budget writers get the official estimate for how much the state can expect to collect in taxes over the next 28 months.

That also is when reality sets in, or when it is supposed to. Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver, said he thinks many of his colleagues are in denial about the budget crisis.

Today, the state is looking at an $8.31 billion shortfall. That means the state is on course to spend $8.31 billion more through June 30, 2011, than it expects to collect from state taxes and fees. That's about 25 percent of the $31 billion the state would collect in taxes over the next two years.

Not all of that shortfall is spending. Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, said she thinks the Legislature should keep $1 billion in reserves because the economy and state revenues are so uncertain. But since that money must be put in savings, spending cuts will have to be that much deeper.

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