How Washington lawmakers want to spend another $2 billion with this year's state budget
Pay raises and inflation. Hospital beds and opioid treatments. Special education and college financial aid. Electric-powered fire trucks and soccer field renovations.
Democratic budget writers in the Senate and House penciled in money for these, and much more, in spending proposals released Monday.
Last session, Washington lawmakers passed budgets covering day-to-day operations, capital construction and transportation for a two-year period that began July 1, 2023. Now they are considering supplemental budgets, which would adjust each of those spending plans to cover new expenditures through June 30 next year, when the budget cycle concludes.
What’s next? Both proposals received public hearings Monday. Budget votes are anticipated in the Senate on Friday and in the House the next day. Then negotiations get serious with a final agreement expected a couple of days before the session ends on March 7.
https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/02/19/how-washington-lawmakers-want-to-spend-another-2-billion-with-this-years-state-budget/