Can we really call last-minute Washington budget deal a success?
Jul 3, 2017, 12:52 PM
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, center, shakes hands after he signed a new two-year state operating budget. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
The two-year state budget passed at the last minute by lawmakers has, by some of the people that worked on it, been lauded as a success.
RELATED: Why the new state budget is infuriatinghere.
But what about the business-and-occupation tax rates being reduced by 40 percent beginning in 2019? Or the increase in property taxes so the state can pump more money into public schools? Is the budget a success when you wrap those two things in?
“Absolutely,” House Majority Leader Pat Sullivan told Seattle’s Morning News.
If Inslee hadn’t signed the budget before midnight on Friday, it would have caused a government shutdown that would have meant more than state employees missing out on their paychecks, Sullivan says. It has an impact on the state’s economy and trade partnerships, he says as an example.
“It was a tough budget,” he said. “Just a normal two-year budget is difficult enough. But the McCleary decision and bills of new dollars for K-12 education made it even more difficult.”
Lawmakers believe — or at least hope — the budget finally satisfies the 2012 state Supreme Court order known as McCleary, which requires the Legislature come up with more funding for basic education. Sullivan says he believes the budget does. He said one of the most difficult aspects of the budget was developing a new system to pay teachers.
The current teacher salary schedule is being eliminated. Argued as one of the causes of unequal pay, the system bases pay on seniority and education. Now, teachers will make more money if they live in areas with higher housing costs and/or if they teach science, technology, engineering, math, offer bilingual support or provide special-ed instruction.
There’s also been an investment in public education class sizes, CTE programs, and more.
But is the benefit to public education and teachers, enough to swallow higher property taxes?
Sullivan says property taxes will rise by about 80 cents per $1,000 assessed home value. that the owner of an average Seattle home may pay $400 or more per year on top of what they already are paying. Sen. Reuven Carlyle said the property taxes are too rough on the middle class.
Listen to the entire interview .
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