Largely Vanilla Supplemental Budget Released

Yesterday, Gov. Chris Gregoire released her 2008 Supplemental Budget, the second year tweak to the biennial budget. She explains it in this press release. Interestingly, she leads with what she does not spend.

Gov. Chris Gregoire today unveiled her 2008 supplemental budget, which saves $1.2 billion dollars for the future and invests in programs to improve the safety of Washingtonians.

“The investments we made in the 2007–09 biennial budget took great strides in addressing many of our state’s most pressing concerns,” Gov. Gregoire said. “We started the transformation of our education system, we committed to creating a strong economy with targeted state investments and we helped ensure that Washingtonians stay healthy, especially our children, with greater access to high-quality, affordable health care.

Brad Shannon reports on the supplemental in the Olympian. Reactions fall along predictable lines.

Top Democratic budget writers said Gregoire offered a good first draft of the budget they will hash out during their 60-day session that starts Jan. 14. But Republicans said it sets the state up for future deficits — a frequent theme the minority party has voiced since Gregoire took office in January 2005.

Budget projections show a deficit in the future, an issue AWB has followed closely, frequently warning last session that the biennial spending plan was unsustainable. Jason Mercier runs down the numbers on the Washington Policy Center blog and includes the state budget office's projections.

Sen. Joe Zarelli offers the Republican perspective. The Budget and Policy Center thinks the state has a revenue problem.