Yesterday, Governor Jay Inslee released his proposed supplemental budgets, which focus on making fixes to the biennial operating and capital budgets passed last legislative session.
The Governor’s proposal includes necessary fixes for the UW, including:
- $1M in predesign funding for phase 2 of the Magnuson Health Science Center replacement/renovation;
- The reappropriation of conditional wage increases to provide one-time payments to eligible represented employees at the UW, and;
- The transfer of 2019-21 funding for the Dental Education in Care of Persons with Disabilities (DECOD) to the Health Care Authority to leverage federal matching funds.
The overall proposal focuses on efforts to address homelessness, expand early learning and combat climate change. It also pauses transportation projects to offset lost revenue from the passage of Initiative 976, which cut annual vehicle licensing fees to $30.
The release of the Governor’s budget proposal represents the first big step in the budget process. The House of Representatives and Senate will introduce their supplemental budget proposals during legislative session, which is scheduled to begin on Monday, Jan. 13.
For additional details on the Governor’s budget, see the brief prepared by the Office of Financial Management.