The end - officially

Yesterday was the final day of bill signings. It marked the final day of bill action and the final day legislators had to worry or wonder about the ultimate fate of their bills.

Among the long list of final-day signings was the 2009-11 operating budget and 2009 supplemental budgets.

In signing the budget bill, Governor Gregoire vetoed a number of sections. The vetoes fall into the following criteria:

• Funding for bills that did not pass the Legislature. This funding lapses and goes towards increasing the ending fund balance.
• Deleting provisos so agencies have more flexibility in spending. By getting rid of the proviso, it doesn’t mean that the program/service won’t happen. If the agency needs to reduce spending, it allows for their ability to make more reductions across all spending.
• Technical problems with spending/transfers
• Policy choices
• Allowing more funding for DSHS in the 2009 supplemental budget

In total, the net effect of these changes is to reduce the Near General Fund ending fund balance by about $82 million, leaving it at about $670 million.

Examples of the Governor's vetoes:

Provisos that give agencies more flexibility: Medicaid Services - Podiatry, adult dental services, and family planning nurses, were provisoed.

Technical issues: Actuary Health Care Study - $750,000 had been provided to do a comprehensive study of health care costs of all governmental entities in the state pension systems. The fund source was from a Health Care Authority account, which can’t be spent for purposes such as this study.

Policy choices: Performance Audits - The Governor vetoed sections dealing with transfers from the Performance Audit Account. $29.2 million had been transferred into the General Fund. Of this amount, about $15 million is from prior biennia and the State Auditor had agreed to part with this funding. The Governor is directing OFM to put these funds in an unallotted status, so the 2010 supplemental budget will be able transfer these funds. The remaining dollars will allow the State Auditor to have full funding for performance audits in the 2009-11 biennium.

2009 Supplemental: The Governor vetoed several sections of Department of Social and Health Services appropriations. By vetoing these sections, the department gained about $32.3 million in additional funding. There is some concern that DSHS will not be able to close out the 2007-09 biennium without these extra dollars.

You can read news about the final budget here and here, where Jerry Cornfield of the Everett Herald ponders whether the budget will carry us through the biennium if revenues continue to fall. A new revenue forecast is due mid-June.