When was the last time you exercised with Walkman?

The Judicial Information System (JIS) is the primary information system for Washington state courts and the network that connects the courts with law enforcement agencies.

Sony Walkman (1979)

The JIS was state-of-the-art when it was created 35 years ago. What was also considered state-of-the-art in 1978? The Walkman. Our state's main judicial system is running on the efficiency and reliability of Walkman-era technology.

JIS is failing. Today, this behemoth wastes incredible amounts of time and money – and worse, it's unreliable. The system is expensive to maintain and faces the possibility of catastrophic failure.

Courts, like businesses, are urged to do more with less and use technology to work more efficiently and productively. How are the courts supposed to administer justice with a system like this?

A serious problem with JIS is that it doesn't relay to law enforcement when defendants are convicted of felonies. This has placed domestic violence victims in danger and can allow criminals to keep firearms. How can police be expected to protect us if they do not have accurate information on criminals?

Screenshot of the computer system used in Washington courtrooms.

If we want a justice system that functions and uses taxpayer resources effectively, then replacing these ancient systems is critical. The courts need $20 million to run the computer system and begin replacement.

The Senate Republican budget sweeps the entire $20 million for the JIS database and the replacement of the Superior Court Management Information System (SCOMIS).

It doesn't have to be this way. The House budget proposal fully funds the JIS and the replacement of the SCOMIS system. With this investment, we can greatly improve the accuracy and efficiency of our justice system. We can give judges, attorneys, and law enforcement the tools they need to protect us. And, we can save the taxpayers time and money.

Photo courtesy of the Administrative Office of the Courts and Wikipedia

House doubles up on education

House Democrats unveiled a state budget that funds education without shredding the safety net for
kids, seniors, the blind, and disabled – and without resorting to accounting tricks or one-time spending.

Education

The budget set the high-water mark for education spending, adding $1.3 billion over predicted spending on public schools. If you compared total education spending to the current budget, the House proposal spends $1.9 billion more than the status quo.

Gov. Jay Inslee proposed putting $1.2 billion more toward education, while Senate Republican budget writers put forth a budget that adds only $760 million to meet our McCleary obligations.

The House proposal also:

• Invests in early learning
• Reduces class sizes in K-3
• Puts more money into high-demand college degrees
• Expands health care and protects the safety net

The House proposal fully embraces the savings and opportunities offered by Obamacare. The budget:

• Offers affordable health coverage to 385,000 more people by expanding Medicaid
• Helps small business with costs by implementing the health care exchange, giving business owners and employees affordable and portable options for health coverage

Tax reform and tax fairness

A citizens' commission, panel of experts, and the House Finance Committee all examined the massive number of tax breaks, exemptions, and loopholes. Hundreds of breaks and loopholes costs the taxpayers $24 billion, compared to the entire two-year state budget proposal of $34 billion.

Many of these breaks have been on the books since the 1930s. Do they still make sense? Do they actually create jobs?

The House proposes a series of reforms to shift tax dollars from loopholes that don't create jobs to funding education, which we know is the foundation of our modern economy.

The $1.3 billion in loopholes and revenue match up with the $1.3 billion invested in new education spending aimed at meeting our constitutional duty under the Supreme Court's McCleary decision.

To find out more about the our budget proposal, click here.

Read this story in Spanish.

House budget will be released today

House Appropriations Chair Ross Hunter

House Majority Leader Pat Sullivan, Appropriations Committee Chair Ross Hunter, and Finance Committee Chair Reuven Carlyle will release the House 2013-15 operating budget proposal at 12:15 today in House Hearing Room A.

TVW will cover their press conference live, and documents will be made public at the same time.

Check back here later for more details.

Read this story in Spanish.

Tax loopholes: Did you know...

Washington State gives the oil industry about $3 million a year through a tax loophole based on how gasoline was transported back in the 1930’s. It’s completely outdated and even they have admitted they don’t want or need the exemption anymore.

Fifteen years ago, the Legislature tried to entice out-of-state prescription drug companies to build warehouses in Washington by giving them a tax break. The plan didn’t work out as originally intended. Out-of-state companies are getting the tax break even if they don’t have warehouses in Washington. In other words, we’re giving away $15 million in tax loopholes for no reason.

Washington State gives away $32 million a year to public utilities through a 1935 tax loophole. This exemption was created to comply with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that has since been overturned.

When you travel to another state, you help support their schools and other needs when you buy goods and pay their sales tax. How much do out-of-state residents pay in sales tax when they buy items in Washington? ZERO. That tax loophole costs Washington taxpayers $32 million a year.

These are just a few examples of the 640 tax loopholes our state hands out to businesses each year. According to the Washington Budget & Policy Center, these tax loopholes cost Washington taxpayers over $10 BILLION per biennium – that’s about one-third of the total state budget.

Last week, the Senate unveiled a budget proposal that added 15 new tax loopholes to the books, which will cost taxpayers over $11 million. How many did they eliminate? ZERO.

Tax breaks themselves are not inherently bad things. Many serve the people well. But there are also several tax loopholes, like the 1939 fuel spillage loophole, that are outdated and unneeded. Because most do not have expiration dates, they’ll remain on the books unless the Legislature repeals them.

Budgeting is all about priorities. By preserving unneeded tax breaks, the Senate budget prioritizes corporate profits over kids and working families. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can do better.

House Democrats will unveil our budget proposal on Wednesday. In our proposal, you will see kids and working families come first.

Check out our website for a Top 10 list of reasons why the Senate budget is bad for kids, middle class families, and our future.



Read this story in Spanish.

Women of the House say Senate GOP budget chooses loopholes over families

They are mothers, grandmothers, daughters, and sisters. They're nurses, educators, and community activists. The women of the House Democratic caucus come from different backgrounds and different towns, but today they all shared one message: The Senate Republican budget proposal prioritizes special interest tax loopholes over our children and most vulnerable people.

Representatives Eileen Cody, Tami Green, Ruth Kagi, Laurie Jinkins, and Dawn Morrell led a group of women legislators calling out the problems for families in the Senate's plan. 

They pointed out that, instead of closing a single tax loophole -- many of which have been on the books for decades without any review -- the Senate actually includes 25 more loopholes.

Cuts in the budget plan include:

·  Childcare support for more than 4,500 families through Working Connections Childcare;

·  TANF Services – A temporary lifeline to struggling families used for the most basic of needs like rent assistance, school supplies and basic hygiene items;

·  Funding for career services and educational certification programs for the poor;

·  Required health care cost-sharing for low-income individuals, limiting access; 

·  Transitional housing services for seniors and reduced access to shelters for homeless families;

·  Corrections services, leading to early release of offenders;

·  Funding to home care services which keep seniors and the disabled from going into nursing homes;

·  Support for grandparents caring for their grandchildren, keeping them out of foster care; and

·  Legal services for low-income persons who need help to keep their homes.

 

Here is the full press release from today's event, and here are more comments about the budget plan.

Read this story in Spanish.

Ross Hunter comments on the Senate Republican budget proposal

The Senate Republicans released their 2013-15 budget proposal today, and House Appropriations Committee Ross Hunter issued the following statement in response:

“While it is nice that the Senate Republicans have acknowledged our responsibility to fund the McCleary decision, they have done so with a budget proposal that relies on assumptions that are unconstitutional or unsustainable. The Supreme Court has been pretty cranky about this issue, and this budget will do nothing to improve their mood.

“In addition to being unsustainable, some of their decisions seem downright cruel. Providing child care subsidies for parents trying to get back into the workforce was part of the deal when we “reinvented welfare” two decades ago.  Cutting it now will not only force single moms back onto welfare, it will perpetuate the opportunity gap in our schools for years to come.

“I am also very concerned with some of the shaky assumptions made in the proposal.  There are $157 million in unnamed efficiencies, $40 million in an uncollectable use tax, and $166 million in a school trust transfer that is clearly unconstitutional.

“We have spent the last five years making our budget more sustainable with actions like reducing our long-term pension obligations and cutting staffing at all levels.  A budget built on unconstitutional actions and assumptions that are unlikely to come true moves us away from sustainability.”

Read this story in Spanish.

Good news: personal income jumps in state. Not-as-good news: Help for state budget diminishing

The total personal income for everybody in the state of Washington added together rose by 4.5% from 2011 to 2012, the fourth-highest percentage increase among the states, the federal government says.

So a lot of folks saw their income go up last year, which is certainly good news.

And you might think that would also be good news for the hard-pressed state budget, since a bit of those increased earnings might be spent on stuff that's covered by the state sales tax.

Turns out it's not such a budgetary boon. Why? Because over the last 20-odd years, state government has tapped an ever-declining share of that personal income to pay for education, the State Patrol, bridges and highways, foster care and all the other services the state provides.

Part of the reason for that is that the Legislature is very reluctant to raise taxes.

Another part of the reason is our revenue system – which, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, is the most regressive of any state's ("most regressive" means that in Washington, the rich pay less and the poor pay more than anywhere else, in terms of their shares of the total tax burden).

All of that makes balancing the state budget a tough job. That's the main task before the state House and Senate right now, and we will see their ideas for how to do it announced soon.

The $2 billion budget myth

Let's say you drive your car about 100 miles a week as part of your job responsibilities. Your boss gives you $50 a week to cover your gas expenses. Then one day your boss says, "Good news, I'm increasing your fuel stipend to $60, but we're also doubling your route to 200 miles."

While the stipend increase would be welcomed, is that really good news? The added miles would more than wipe out the extra $10 a week.

This is the kind of argument you'll hear from some lawmakers and advocacy groups over the coming weeks as budget negotiations heat up. They argue that the state has $2 billion more in revenue this budget cycle compared to the last one – like your gas stipend going from $50 to $60 per week.

Therefore, as the argument goes, we can balance the budget, meet our McCleary obligations, and avoid deep cuts to vital services all without new revenue.

While it is true that our revenues are up about $2 billion, only looking at this side of the equation is fiscally imprudent and misleading.

This argument conveniently leaves out the other half of the equation, like the part about adding more miles to your route. Our expenses have also increased by more than $2 billion since the last biennium.

We have more kids in public schools, more students enrolling in higher education that need financial assistance, and more low-income families and seniors that need medical care.

In other words, it costs more this year to run the state than it did last year. Despite having more money this year, our revenues are not keeping up with expenses.

Based on current expense and revenue projections, the state budget is about $1 billion short of paying for our obligations. When you add our McCleary obligations, we're about $2.3 billion short.

We are not going to find $2.3 billion in cuts alone. We've cut $12 billion from the budget since 2008. House Democrats are pleased to see Governor Inslee's call for closing some tax loopholes to balance the budget and fund education for our kids.

Read this story in Spanish.

HDC reactions to Governor Inslee's budget proposal -- it's all about the kids

Governor Inslee released his operating budget proposal today, which included $1.26 billion in new spending for K-12 education.

"I feel deeply that my number one priority is to help rebuild our economy, get people working again and take important steps toward building a workforce for the future," Inslee said. "And that begins with education."

House Democratic leaders agree. 

Said House Speaker Frank Chopp: “Taking meaningful steps toward better-funding of our public schools is a top priority, and many of our members have long argued for giving tax breaks serious scrutiny.  So we are heartened to see the governor call for closing some tax loopholes to fund the education of our kids."

Appropriations Chair Ross Hunter added: “Governor Inslee’s proposal focuses on funding education and responsible budgeting – these are the right priorities for Washington."

And House Finance Committee Chair Reuven Carlyle said: "We strongly agree that fully funding public education is a higher priority than continuing tax exemptions that may not provide a reasonable return on investment for the future of our state.”

Read this story in Spanish.

How do we solve the workforce shortage in our state?

Two years ago, give or take a couple of weeks, we wrote about the fact that in our state there are more job openings than qualified workers to fill those vacancies. The Washington Roundtable addresses that issue in its Great Jobs Within Our Reach report released yesterday. And the Seattle Times ran this editorial calling on the Legislature to fund more seats in high-demand fields.

According to the Roundtable's news release, Washington state could see 160,000 jobs by 2017 and $720 million in new state revenue if we take the necessary steps to fill the growing skills gap.

The report found that 25,000 jobs have been unfilled in our state for three months or more due to a lack of qualified candidates and eighty percent of these jobs are in high demand fields such as health care and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).

The report warns that the gap will grow to 50,000 jobs by 2017 unless we fix this problem, in which case, due to the multiplying effect, the scenario in 2017 would be much brighter with an additional 110,000 jobs.

The necessary steps, according to the Roundtable, to fix the problem are just five:

1. Increase computer science, engineering and healthcare capacity at colleges and universities.

2. Foster STEM interest and performance among K-12 students.

3. Improve alignment of technical degree and certificate curricula with employer demands.

4. Promote and enable in-bound migration of skilled workers from other states.

5. Support expansion of international immigration opportunities.

Following some of the Roundtable's recommendations is easier said than done, though, especially when the state is so dramatically strapped for money to satisfy the growing demands in other areas like K-12, health care and human services. How do we get there? Think you have the solution? Try this Seattle Times balancing the budget interactive tool to see how you would do it.

Read this story in Spanish.

Stanford's knack for numbers upgrades Caseload Forecast Council

State Rep. Derek Stanford's flair for figures will be put to great use in his new work as a member of a pivotal government panel. The Bothell lawmaker has been appointed to the Caseload Forecast Council (CFC), which occupies a strategic, albeit all-too-often-unsung standing in the construction of marching orders for state-government operations.

 

Meeting several times a year, the six-member CFC is charged with putting two and two together -- and then some. The council estimates how many folks will be using public services afforded by state government. Those figures are used to help develop a redoubtable document called the Omnibus Biennial Appropriations Act, more commonly known as the state operating budget.

 

The council looks at numbers for everything:

* Student-enrollment in public schools, colleges and universities.

* Recipients of public assistance.

* Incarcerated persons in prison or on probation.

* Citizens receiving long-term care, medical assistance, foster care, and adoption support.

"I’m looking forward to joining the work of the Caseload Forecast Council," Stanford said, "because as a legislator, I respect the critical position the council's efforts occupy in the budgeting process. I believe that my background in statistics and predictive modeling will give me an opportunity to make a meaningful contribution."

Stanford, who is vice chair of the House Capital Budget Committee, earned a Ph.D. in statistics from the University of Washington. He has B.S. and M.S. degrees in mathematics, both earned from Harvey Mudd College, and has worked as director of analytics for a telecom company and in fraud-detection in the mortgage industry.

 

Where do those lottery dollars go, anyway?

Thirty years after the Washington State Lottery was created, there are still plenty of misconceptions on where the money goes.

In the 1970's, there were several attempts by the Legislature to create a state lottery that would have dedicated the revenues for education. A state lottery was finally authorized in 1982.

However, because the Legislature was dealing with a projected budget deficit that year, lawmakers elected to have lottery revenues go into the state's general fund. While education is the general fund's main expense, it's also used to pay for higher education, prisons, health care, and many other state services.

In 2000, voters approved a measure to direct lottery dollars specifically towards education. From 2004-09, lottery proceeds were used to renovate and remodel schools. In 2010, the Legislature re-directed lottery proceeds to the Opportunity Pathways Account, which supports access grants, work study awards, merit scholarships, and early learning programs.

Below is a chart that shows where lottery dollars went last year. Nearly 60% of the budget goes to pay prizes to the winners. After all, it wouldn't be much of a lottery if there isn't anything to win.

After prizes are paid out and other costs are accounted for, the lottery generates about $122 million for education. By comparison, state spending on K-12 and higher education is about $8 billion per year.

So, while lottery proceeds are an important part of education funding, they're only a small piece of the overall funding picture.

Washington Lottery Fun Facts:

• The Washington State Lottery sold its first ticket in 1982.
• Since then, it has paid almost $6.5 billion in prizes.
• In fiscal year 2012, over 28 million winning tickets were issued ranging from $1 to $11 million.

Read this story in Spanish.

ER best practices is music to state budget writers’ ears

Washington's Seven Best Practices initiative is improving care and reducing state Medicaid costs. The Washington State Health Care Authority reported that in its first six months, the initiative is saving the state more than 10 percent in Medicaid fee-for-service emergency care costs, which could result in as much as $31 million for the fiscal year. But these savings are just one of many achievements:

• A 23-percent reduction in emergency visits by Medicaid patients.
• Doubling the number of shared care plans to ensure patients receive coordinated care.
• A 250-percent increase in the number of providers registered in the state's Prescription Monitoring Program
• Increasing the number of hospitals exchanging emergency department information electronically from 17 to 85, and 10 more are in the process.
• Patients have fewer emergencies since a primary care physician is implementing a cohesive care plan for them.
• Prescription drug abuse has decreased.

The seven practices included in the 2012 Operating Budget are summarized below:

1. Tracking frequent ER users and exchanging patient information electronically with other hospitals.
2. Educating patients that the ER should only be used for true emergencies.
3. Designating staff to receive and circulate information on Medicaid clients.
4. Contacting primary care providers at the time of the emergency visit and relaying any issues regarding barriers to primary care.
5. Implementing narcotic guidelines that direct patients to primary care or pain management services.
6. Enrolling physicians in the state's Prescription Monitoring Program.
7. Designating emergency physician and hospital staff to review and provide feedback reports— and taking appropriate action.

For more information, you can read the report: "Emergency Department Utilization: Assumed Savings From Best Practices Implementation".

Read this story in Spanish.

Opening Day!

Speaker Frank Chopp gives his Opening Day speech

No, we don't mean baseball is back. But your legislature is!

The gavel fell at noon today in the House of Representatives, calling into session the 63rd Washington State Legislature. All 98 members took the oath of office, administered by Washington Supreme Court Chief Justice Barbara Madsen.

Frank Chopp was re-elected Speaker of the House and delivered his traditional opening day speech. Also re-elected were Speaker Pro-Tem Jim Moeller and Chief Clerk Barbara Baker.  Tina Orwall was elected Deputy Speaker Pro-Tem, as well.

House committees began their schedule of meetings at 1:30, and the agendas were not easy, first-day-of-school stuff: the new Finance Committee receiving an update from the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council and the Appropriations Committee held a public hearing on Governor Gregoire's budget proposal.

*** UPDATE *** Our website is currently down, so the link to the Speaker's opening day speech won't work. We'll update this post when the service provider has our site back online. You can also watch the speech on TVW below.


*** UPDATE 5:54 p.m. *** We're back up. Thanks for your patience.




Read this story in Spanish here.

Budget matters matter

Appropriations chair Ross Hunter

The Washington Budget and Policy Center thinks that the Budget Matters -- and they brought 300+ people together to talk about ways to move Washington's economy forward. Advocates, stakeholders, policy experts, and legislators participated in plenary and break-out sessions throughout the day. 

Deputy Majority Leader Marcie Maxwell

Several members of the House Democratic Caucus participated in panal discussions, including Ross Hunter, chair of the House Appropriations Committee; Marcie Maxwell, Deputy Majority Leader for Educationa nd Opportunity; Reuven Carlyle, chair of the House Finance Committee; and Laurie Jinkins, vice-chair of the House Health Care and Wellness committee.

Governor Gregoire released her final budget today

After eight years, three biennial budgets, many supplemental and "special" budget bills, Governor Gregoire sent her final budget proposal to the Legislature this morning.  According to her press release, she addressed the looming McCleary decision this way:

A $1 billion down payment in 2013-15 -- a 12.3% increase over the current K-12 budget.  That funding would:

• Reduce class sizes in grades K-2
• Step-up the phase-in of full-day kindergarten programs across the state
• Improve professional development for teachers and principals
• Increase funding for maintenance, suupplies, and operating costs
• Fully-fund the state's new pupil transportation funding formula

House Appropriations Committee Chair, Ross Hunter, issued this statement in response to the governor's proposal:

“I’d like to thank Governor Gregoire for the thoughtful work she’s put into this budget. Her proposal exposes the basic structural problems that will make it difficult to build an operating budget that meets the needs of Washington’s citizens and business community without changing the revenue picture.

“It also points out the big issues the Legislature will have to address this year: Medicaid expansion, educational requirements coming from the McCleary decision, and the impact of the recession on the state’s revenue picture. We have a lot of work to do to resolve these issues and create a stable platform for continued economic growth.”

Read this story in Spanish here.

I-502 legalized marijuana – so what does that mean for taxpayers?

Now that voters passed Initiative 502 to legalize marijuana, what happens next?

The details about how the new law will work aren't done yet. State officials will draft rules and regulations to figure out who will grow and sell marijuana.

The bigger question, for taxpayers and budget writers, is how much legalized marijuana might mean for Washington state's economy.

As this Seattle Times post explains, there's a lot of debate about the money side, too.
The non-partisan budget people at the Office of Financial Management (OFM) – the ones who crunch all the numbers for the state budget – have done a couple of different reports about the initiative, full of numbers and charts and possibilities.

The budget folks did a fiscal report on the initiative. Click here to read it. Bottom line: by 2015, the initiative might mean $532 million or more per year in tax revenues. Of course, there are caveats, and if the federal government shuts the whole thing down, the financial impact would be zero dollars.
A second OFM report show the estimated impact to different state agencies and such. Click here to read that report.

The Times cites two private sector sources, one of which uses the OFM report to estimate the size of a national marijuana market. One expert quoted is John Gettman, a marijuana researcher from Virginia, who says Washington state's marijuana market could potentially hit $1 billion a year, which would make pot the No. 2 agricultural crop in the state. (Apples are No. 1, milk would be No. 3 and wheat would be No. 4).

To read thos story in Spanish, click here.

New capital budget: Help is on the way for fixing up big component of Brier's infrastructure

In the nick of time. Yes, indeed, that was a close one.

Just before the ultimate, early-morning gavel FINALLY fell on the 2012 Legislature a few weeks back, the state's new supplemental 2011-2013 capital budget -- featuring a very significant item that, according to its main booster and prime proponent, "will go quite a long way toward helping rebuild a significant piece of Brier's infrastructure” -- captured the long-awaited legislative "Green Light" and flew off to a coveted spot on the governor's desk, needing only her tasty autograph to become the "Law of the State."

State Rep. Derek Stanford this past session rounded up support for an $800,000 appropriation in the capital budget to assist in paying for a new Scriber Creek Pedestrian Bridge. This updated construction budget won final legislative approval near, as your true and loyal HDC Advance Blogster might have noted a couple of lines back, the very end of the recent special session.

Stanford explained that the horrible flood in December 2007 battered the you-know-what out of the bridge and areas around the bridge -- "eroding the creek bank to such an extent that two of the four pilings supporting the bridge were exposed."

"I'd like to express my appreciation to Rep. Stanford and his staff for their efforts assisting the City of Brier to acquire the funding needed for this project," said Brier Mayor Bob Colinas. "The city will now be able to make the repairs ensuring the bridge, sewer line and the fragile ecosystem of Scriber Creek will be maintained."

The Scriber Creek Pedestrian Bridge not only provides a major trail link in Brier, it also carries a sewer pipe over Scriber Creek, which is a salmon-bearing waterway.

Stanford said the prime directives in the capital budget, which this year is also called the "Jobs Now! Act," emphasize repairs for schools and other public buildings, as well as new-construction projects that will put many thousands of Washington men and women to work in communities all across the state. This budget will help leverage federal, local and private funding, and it also helps preserve and maintain state facilities.

He also noted that the capital budget “is primarily funded by the sale of bonds, and doesn’t do anything to add to the serious shortfall currently confronting our state’s biennial operating budget.”

To read this post in Spanish, click here.

Statements from Speaker Chopp, Majority Leader Sullivan and Chair Dunshee

House Speaker Frank Chopp, Majority Leader Pat Sullivan, and Capital Budget Chair Hans Dunshee issued the following statements regarding the completion of the 2012 Legislative Session.

Speaker Frank Chopp:

“Our caucus’s two highest goals for this session were:

• A budget that funds education with no cuts and saves the safety net, and

• The Jobs Now package that will put tens of thousands of people back to work.

“We succeeded! And this morning we share that success with school kids heading off to class, with people who rely on the Disability Lifeline to keep a roof over their heads, and with unemployed people all across our state who can look forward to going back   to work.”

Majority Leader Pat Sullivan:
“A strong public education system that supports the academic achievement of all Washington students is not only a key to good jobs, but also to Washington’s thriving future. We fought for education in our budget, and not only will our kids benefit, but so will our economy.”


Chair Hans Dunshee:
“Jobs was our number one priority, and we did it.  People all across the state will now go back to work, and they’ll have the pride and the security of a regular paycheck.”

To read this post in Spanish, click here.

Democrats approve budget with no cuts to education

The House Thursday passed a state budget that closes a $1 billion-plus revenue gap while protecting funding for K-12 schools and higher education and maintaining the safety net.

Rep. Ross Hunter of Medina, chair of the budget-writing Ways and Means Committee, assured House members the $31 billion spending plan is responsible, sustainable and will put the state on solid ground heading into the next two-year budget cycle. During floor debate, Majority Leader Pat Sullivan of Covington said that he would be proud to bring this budget home to his constituents – especially those students preparing to enter the workforce.

The 54-43 vote for the budget (ESHB 2127) sends it to the Senate.

A key to the House-passed plan is better management of the state’s collection and distribution of local sales taxes. The modernization, endorsed by the state treasurer, will provide a $238 million boost to the bottom line.

To read this post in Spanish, click here.