Legislative action moves to the House and Senate floors this week as legislators take a short break from intensive committee activity so that they can move their already worked bills to the other body. Generally speaking, bills that have not been moved out of a committee by now are considered dormant for the rest of this session unless related to the budget. But as we’ve been saying all session, the big issue IS the budget.

Governor Ferguson Proposes $4 billion More in Budget Cuts
Last week, Gov. Bob Ferguson laid out a plan to cut the projected four-year budget shortfall in half by identifying $4 billion in cuts and savings that can be added to the $3 billion in cuts proposed in former Governor Inslee’s budget. And Governor Ferguson said there may be more recommendations for budget reductions. Here are the budget reduction plans presented by each agency (not all of these have been accepted by the Governor’s office yet).

Three Weeks to Make A Difference On the Legislature’s Budget Proposal
The House and Senate are expected to release their budgets about a week after the next official state revenue forecast (March 14). Because Inslee and Ferguson proposed curtailing newer spending, both Imagination Library and Community Reinvestment Project are at risk of not being funded this year. In addition, the additional funding secured by Washington 211 in the previous budget also is at risk. We have three weeks to help our legislators understand the value of these programs. Here’s how to determine your legislative district and how to contact your legislators. PLEASE KEEP ACTIVATING YOUR REGIONAL SUPPORTERS SO WE ARE KEEPING OUR PRIORITIES FRONT AND CENTERED TO OUR LEGISLATORS.

New Website Attempts to Depict the Effect of an “All Cuts Budget”
House Democrats have launched WA Budget Cuts, a website highlighting the all cuts, no revenue budget former Governor Jay Inslee was required to prepare. This example budget relied only on existing law, and no new revenue, to balance the $12 billion budget deficit Washington state is facing. (Note: There are different ways to measure the projected deficit resulting in a range from $12 to $15 billion). These reductions do not reflect input from, or decisions made by, Governor Bob Ferguson. WA Budget Cuts highlights the largest of the possible cuts and provides a perspective on what these cuts would mean to communities across the state.