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PRE-SESSION BUDGET
UPDATE
PREPARED DEC. 19, 2007
Washington's Legislature operates on a biennial system with its
two-year cycle beginning in odd-numbered years (2005, 2007, 2009,
etc.). During these "long" sessions (limited to 105 days), the
Legislature adopts the state's two-year Operating Budget. During
even-numbered years (2006, 2008, 2010, etc.), the Legislature meets
for a "short" session (limited to 60 days) and makes "corrections" to
the two-year budget via a "Supplemental" Operating Budget.
In December, Gov. Chris Gregoire unveiled her 2008
Supplemental Operating Budget request — signaling the imminent arrival
of the 2008 Legislative Session. The 2008 Legislature convenes on
January 14.
Historically, the supplemental (or short) sessions have been used to
focus on policy issues, while making minor adjustments to the two-year
budget. In recent years, however, even the short sessions have become
"budget sessions" with a heavy focus on budget issues. If the
Governor's 2008 Supplemental Operating Budget request is any
indication, we have returned to the time when the short session will
be used to tackle policy matters. Even though the state currently has
approximately $1.4 billion in reserve (including $430 million in the
state's new Budget Stabilization Account, also known as the "Rainy Day
Fund"), Gov. Gregoire proposes only $144 million in new spending.
And only $45 million of that total request is for policy items. The
remaining $99 million in requested spending is for required,
maintenance issues (such as social service caseloads and inflation).
The major focus of the governor's budget are: community safety
(including protections against sex offenders), campus safety (higher
education only), housing and disaster response (mainly due to recent
flooding). The K-12 portion of the proposal includes $45.4 million in
required maintenance level changes and a reduction of $6.3
million in policy level spending, for a total increase of $39 million
over the current 2007-09 budget.
Details of the governor's 2008 K-12 education budget follow:
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$867,000 in one-time funding to "reimburse" OSPI for additional
services from the Attorney General's Office, due to education
litigation.
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$4.4 million in inflationary adjustments, mainly for Non-Employee
Related Costs (NERCs).
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$28.4 million for required Initiative 732 cost of living adjustments
for educational employees. The 2007-09 budget estimated the required
second year COLA at 2.8 percent; the current estimate is 3.6 percent.
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$25.4 million to assist OSPI in renewing the current contract to
administer Washington's assessment system. The current contract
expires in October 2008 and costs to administer the assessments are
projected to increase.
-
$43,000 in increased spending for the reduced price lunch co-pay for
students in K-3, due to increased kindergarten enrollment following
the expansion of all day kindergarten.
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$21,000 to OSPI to cover a one-time charge from the Department of
Personnel for the support of the state's on-line recruitment tool.
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$250,000 to allow five Skills Centers to design and develop programs
that integrate career skills education and English-language
instruction.
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$1.68 million to translate the math and science WASL into six
languages and provide enhanced accommodations for students in special
education.
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$1.8 million in one-time funding to allow OSPI to substantially
complete the upgrade of the apportionment and financial systems.
-
$214,000 to the Professional Educator Standards Board to pilot a
year-long teaching internship program to test the implementation of an
intensive classroom-based, performance-oriented educator training
program.
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$2.6 million to develop classroom-based assessments and other
diagnostic tools.
Numerous reductions or "savings" are also made in the K-12 budget:
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Due to lower-than-expected K-12 enrollment growth and other workload
changes, the state projects a savings of $9.2 million.
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Corrections to pension rates and other technical adjustments provide a
$4.7 million savings.
-
With the development of classroom-based assessments and the provision
of other diagnostic tools, it is anticipated that the cost to develop,
score and otherwise implement assessments will be reduced by
approximately $12.4 million.
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State employer contribution rates for employee health care premiums
are reduced from the current $732 per month to $575 per month. This
change provides a statewide savings of approximately $1.5 million;
OSPI will save $421,000. This adjustment impacts state agencies only,
not school districts.
When the Legislative session begins, legislators will begin discussing
Gov. Gregoire's budget plan in earnest. They will also begin
developing and debating their own competing plans. As always, WSSDA
will be here to assist you by providing up-to-date information about
budget issues and legislation impacting school directors. WSSDA will
begin the regular "Daily Legislative Update" when the Legislature
convenes on January 14, 2008. |
