Budget negotiators in Olympia now must work out deal

OLYMPIA — The final fight over how to hack billions out of the state budget kicked off Tuesday with the release of the House proposal.

Negotiators from the House, Senate and Governor's Office will move back behind closed doors to work out a compromise, now that all three branches have released their spending plans for the next two years.

"It's a dance I've been through many times," House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam said. "And usually in the end we have to kind of sit down and almost have an auction."

The Senate rolled out its budget Monday, and the House followed the next day. Gov. Chris Gregoire released her proposed budget in December, when the state's projected shortfall was $6 billion.

The shortfall now tops $9 billion between now and mid-2011.

With several billion in federal stimulus money to help bridge the gap, and some cuts already made by lawmakers, the Legislature is now zeroing in on ways to cut nearly $4 billion in state spending.

The House and Senate budgets would spend and cut roughly the same amount of money. But there are differences in how the cuts would be made.

The budgets, for example, differ in how much to cut public schools, higher education, the courts system, juvenile rehabilitation and the General Assistance-Unemployable (GAU) program, which provides a temporary safety net for people unable to work because of mental or physical disabilities.

"You have to reconcile all that," Kessler said.

In recent years, with the economy soaring, the fight has been over how to spend the increasing revenues collected by the state.

"Now you have to cut," Kessler said.

And while lawmakers are trying to agree on how deeply programs should be cut, the people who would be affected by those cuts are turning up the heat.

"Words are inadequate to describe the havoc this will wreak," Washington State University President Elson Floyd said in a statement about the House budget.

A letter from religious leaders to lawmakers said, "Cuts in long-term-care funding will lead to cuts in the quality of care for our grandmothers, grandfathers, parents and friends."

And the Statewide Poverty Action Network said, "It is disappointing that the House, along with the Senate and Governor, proposed budgets that will abandon Washington families when they need help the most."

Sen. Rodney Tom, D-Medina, vice chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said that although the budgets differ, he doesn't see anything that's a deal-breaker.

"It shows you that no matter how you slice and dice this, when you make almost $4 billion in program cuts you have very difficult decisions. You have no-win cuts," he said.

Education

Public schools would fare better under the House budget. An analysis by the governor's budget office indicates the House proposal would cut K-12 funding by $625 million, compared with an $877 million reduction in the Senate budget.

The House budget would cut higher education by $683 million compared with a $513 million cut in the Senate's budget. The House, though, would allow schools to backfill some of those cuts by raising tuition up to 10 percent at four-year schools and 7 percent at community colleges and technical schools.

The Senate would cap tuition increases at 7 percent for four-year schools and 5 percent at two-year institutions.

University of Washington President Mark Emmert said the proposed House cuts amount to a 31 percent cut, not counting money from tuition or the stimulus funding.

"These cuts are worse than we had anticipated," he said in a letter to students, faculty and staff.

The House also proposes deeper cuts than the Senate in juvenile-offender programs. And the House would significantly reduce the number of adult offenders on community supervision, or probation; use home detention more often rather than prison time; and spend less on programs to help inmates transition from prison to the community.

Both the Senate and House budgets would eliminate pay increases for state workers and teachers, and reduce contributions to the state pension system.

The current two-year budget, after some steps were taken to reduce spending, is a little over $33 billion.

For the 2009-2011 biennium, both houses also are proposing around a $32 billion state budget. But they would spend an additional $3 billion in federal stimulus money to prevent even deeper cuts. Taken together, the state would spend more money in the next two years than in the current budget.

Many of the actual cuts being made are really reductions in proposed spending.

It generally costs more each year to provide the same level of state services, because of inflation, population growth and other factors.

Incentive to finish

Kessler said she expects the Legislature to get out of town by the last day of the session, April 26. As an incentive, the Senate budget does not allow a per-diem payment for lawmakers if the Legislature goes into a special session. State senators get $90 a day and House members get $100 per day while in session.

"I like the idea," Kessler said. "I think it's a great motivator."

Andrew Garber: 360-236-8266 or agarber@seattletimes.com