01-06-2016 2015-17 Operating Budget'HOUSE
REPUBLICANS
LET'S GET WASHINGTON WORKING
2015 -17 operating budget
The most bipartisan budget since 1989
While it's hard to defend the amount of time it took to finalize the 2015 -17 operating budget, the end product reflects
collaborative, bipartisan solutions. Most importantly, the operating budget is a win for students and public schools, early
learning, our mental health system, state employees, and other working families. The House vote on the final operating
budget (90 -8) is the strongest bipartisan vote since 1989 (93 -1).
House Republicans entered the 2015 legislative session with five priorities: Ensuring fiscally responsible, sustainable and
transparent state budgeting; putting students first; standing up for working families; helping the most vulnerable; and
establishing trust in state government. The operating budget reflects these priorities, although we would have preferred
to end our work on time and provide the public with more time to review the final operating budget proposal.
The process of gathering ideas and developing policy never stops. We look forward to the work ahead.
2015 -17 operating budget 1 Senate Bill 6052 1 facts and figures
• Spends $38.2 billion, representing a 12 percent increase from the last two -year budget cycle.
• Ending -fund balance for 2015 -17: $363 million (plus $894 million in the Budget Stabilization Account).
o For 2017 -19: $47 million (plus $1.4 billion in the Budget Stabilization Account).
• $396 million in fund transfers, new revenue, tax preference extensions, and other resource items.
o Senate Bill 6057 extended various expiring tax exemptions, including food processing, data centers and
aluminum smelters.
• Assumes $4.7 million (2015 -17) and $515.7 million (2017 -19) in "extraordinary revenue" transfers from the
Budget Stabilization Account to the state general fund.
• K -12 education now makes up about 47 percent of the near general fund spending.
• Forecasted state revenue between 2013 -15 and 2015 -17 increased by $3.2 billion (9.2 percent).
• Does not include more than $1.5 billion in tax increases proposed by the governor and House Democrats,
including a new capital gains income tax, a new cap- and -trade system, a permanent extension of the B &O surtax
on service businesses, taxing bottled water, and other tax proposals
Highlights
K -12 education
• $740 million for materials, supplies, and operating costs.
• $350 million to reduce K -3 class size using a "follow the cohort" approach.
• $180 million to expand full -day kindergarten.
• Fully funds 1 -732 teacher COLA at maintenance level (1.8 percent /1.2percent) and provides an additional one-
time salary adjustment (1.2 percent /0.6 percent) for an overall K -12 COLA of 3 percent in the 2015 -16 school
year and 1.8 percent in the 2016 -17 school year.
Higher education
• Tuition cuts: 15 percent at research institutions (University of Washington and Washington State University),
20 percent at regional universities, and 5 percent at community and technical colleges.
o State need grant awards to private institutions are unaffected.
• $41 million to the Opportunity Scholarship Program (matched with private donations).
• $2.5 million for the Washington State University Medical School.
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Early Learning and Child Care
• $94 million for Early Start Act, which includes 12 -month eligibility for Working Connections Child Care.
• $41 million for Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) expansion (1,600 additional slots,
plus maintenance of full -day and extended -day slots).
• $17.5 million for increased rates for family child care providers and child care center providers.
Mental Health
• $39 million for increased civil capacity with regard to the single bed certification litigation.
• $39 million for increased forensic capacity with regard to the Trueblood litigation.
• $3.5 million for a Psychiatric Emergency Response Team at Western State Hospital.
Long Term Care and Developmental Disabilities
• $88.3 million in increased funding for In -Home Care Providers.
• $27.2 million for increased payments to Agency Providers (i.e. parity with Individual Home Care Providers).
• $17.4 million for a vendor rate increase to Adult Family Home providers, and $19.8 million for a vendor rate
increase to Community Residential Providers.
Health Care
• $152 million in savings due to changes to the Hospital Safety Net Assessment.
• $115 million in savings through an increased federal match for the Children's Health Insurance Program.
• $11 million in Health Benefit Exchange funding for customer service and other operations.
Department of Social and Health Services
• $30.6 million to increase the maximum Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) grant by 9 percent.
• $9.6 million for the State Food Program (increasing the benefit to 100 percent of the federal food benefit level).
• $6.4 million to reduce foster care caseloads and to support closure of CPS investigations within 90 days.
Natural Resources
• $20.4 million for increased operations and maintenance of State Parks.
• $4.6 million to Department of Natural Resources for geological hazards and LiDAR (remote sensing technology).
• $1.2 million to Department of Natural Resources for increased fire response.
State government
• Fully funds collective bargaining agreements, which generally include a 3 percent raise in fiscal year 2016 and a
1.8 percent raise in fiscal year 2017.
• $36.8 million in debt service for new projects in the 2015 -17 capital budget.
• $25 million for an IT pool to be administered by the Office of the Chief Information Officer.
• $14 million in emergency drought funding.
More information
• http:/ /www.fiscal.wa.gov /BudgetO.aspx
• http: / /www. fiscal .wa.gov /BudgetOBillsSenate.aspx
• http: / /www.ofm.wa.gov /budget/
• http: / /www.ofm.wa.gov /reports /budgetprocess.pdf
• http: / /leg.wa.gov /House /Committees /APP
• http: / /leg.wa.gov/ House / Committees / APP / Documents / 2015/ OperatingBudgetBriefingBook2015 .pdf
• http: / /www. fiscal .wa.gov /RevenuebySource.aspx
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