Suchergebnisse

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

The citizens of State of Washington have, like individuals throughout the country, had to navigate unprecedented personal and economic hardship. The supplemental budget passed by the legislature during the 2021 legislative session represents an attempt to address some of the issues that presented as an outgrowth of the pandemic. However, the legislature also considered significant policy changes with respect to, among other items, the environment, taxation, and education. These policy debates were, at times, rather contentious and are indicative of the partisan fault lines existing throughout the state.

As a state that overwhelmingly relies on sales tax revenue, Washington benefitted from a strong economy in 2018. However, that revenue was necessary as the state faced a court ordered deadline to fully fund K-12 education, and a need to address transportation, mental health, and a capital budget held over from the 2017 session. This is all in addition to creating a new Department of Children, Youth and Families. The state government was under unified government for the first time since 2012 which may have contributed to the state completing its work in a supplemental budget year on time and adjourning by the March deadline.

The crafting of the Washington state 2017‒2019 biennial budget during the 2017 legislativesession coincided with the looming deadline set by the Washington Supreme Court inthe McCleary decision requiring a sustainable system to achieve "ample provision" for equitableK-12 support. Washington's improving urban economy lessened some of the budget challenges,eviscerated by divided government and the Supreme Court's McCleary and Hirst decisions. Inwhat is become common place, the legislature required multiple special sessions to, on the lastday prior to the mandated budget shutdown, pass the McCleary fulfilling operating budget. Threespecial sessions, however, weren't enough for the legislature to negotiate a solution to the Hirstdecision. This standoff between rural water rights and development resulted in the state capitalbudget being held as a pawn in the negotiations and is indicative of the greater challenges facingWashington State and its divided population, economy and territory.

With great anticipation, the 2015 Washington state legislative 105-day long session convened Monday January 12 to address a number of legislative issues left on the table at the end of the 2014 legislative session. These issues include amendments to the recreational marijuana statute (Initiative 502) enacted in 2012, oil-transport via rail, minimum-wage, loss of the No Child Left Behind waiver, and gasoline-tax increases for enhancements to the state's transportation infrastructure. The provisions of the Washington State Constitution outlining the "paramount duty" to amply provide for the basic education of youth remained the virtual elephant in the room, casting a giant shadow over all budget bills.

The 2014 legislative session ended rather unremarkably with a do-no-harm budget and significant political finger pointing. The majority caucus in the House and Senate held their ground throughout the session, with the usual "no new taxes" vs. "need for rethinking tax breaks and some creative thought on revenue enhancement," with little accomplished. The legislators worked on a number of major issues, including amendments to the marijuana statute enacted in 2012, oil-transport via rail, gun control, minimum-wage, and gasoline-tax increases for enhancements to the transportation infrastructure, but by the end the only noteworthy accomplishments aside from a minimal supplemental budget was the ample placing of blame on political opponents.

The Washington State budget is between a rock and a hard place, challenged by a slowly recovering economy and the State Supreme Court's McCleary decision. A year after three Democrats shocked their Senate colleagues by uniting with Republicans to engineer a floor takeover of legislative business, attention remains fixed on the majority coalition. Each majority caucus in the House and Senate held their ground through the 2013 105-day regular legislative session, which predictably ended in a standstill with no budget agreement. The political maneuvering and power plays that plagued the regular legislative session continued through two 30-day special sessions, right up to the point where only two days remained before a state government shutdown loomed and lay-off notices to state workers were set to go into effect. A budget deal was finally struck just short of a shutdown. In 2013 at long last Washington State experienced, along with the nation, a slow recovery from the recession and state revenues were on the rise. Washington's economic hopes now rest on tax increases, economic recovery, especially in aerospace, and the potential of new revenue from the regulated production and sale of recreational marijuana made possible through the passage of I-502 in 2012.