• 2010 Proposals affecting higher education

• Budget details from the LEAP Commission

• How a budget bill becomes a law

Washington's budget is enacted for a two year biennum. Each year, corrections and adjustments are made through supplemental budgets.

On April 12, 2010, the legislature has unveiled its 2010-2011 budget including strong funding for financial aid. 

With a $2.8 billion deficit, cuts were inevitable, but the legislature put a high priority on helping students go to college.  Students engaged in the debate and they made a difference. 

Legislators deserve our hearty thanks for this strong aid budget.

The State Need Grant, the primary need-based student aid program is held harmless, and will receive an increase for grants up to as much as $7,717 (from $6,876) for students at our colleges.  The legislature kept eligibility at 70% of Washington’s median family income.  Previous proposals had cut the program by as much as 60 percent.  This is a great victory for students.

The State Work-Study program will be cut by 30% with the requirement that the companies that employ students will pay a larger portion of the student’s pay (50% for proprietary employers and 35% from non-profits (up from 35% and 20% respectively).  Most troubling is the elimination of eligibility for non-resident students.  However previous budget proposals eliminated all funding for the program. 

Washington Scholars and WAVE will be reduced in 2010-2011 to one student from each district, down from three.

Conditional loans/scholarships for future health care providers and teachers will be suspended for new recipients, but current recipients continue to receive them. 

Please contact your legislator through our Advocacy center. Thank for supporting students and investing in Washington's future.

More detailed budget documents can be found at the LEAP website

Learn how you can become and ICW Advocate by visiting our Legislative Action Center.

For more information about ICW's public policy efforts contact:

Greg Scheiderer, Vice President
(206) 623-4494, Cellular: (206) 714-0448, Greg@ICWashington.org

A Citizen's Guide to the Washington State Budget:
HOW IS THE BUDGET CREATED?

Through the budget process, the Legislature and the Governor decide
how much money to raise and spend. State agencies, the Governor, the
Legislature, citizens, and interest groups are all involved in this process.
Washington State operates on a two-year (biennial) basis, beginning on
July 1st of each odd-numbered year. For example, the current budget is
for the period July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2011.

Agency Requests - In late summer and early fall of each evennumbered
year, state agencies submit budget requests to the Office of
Financial Management (OFM). The Governor reviews the requests and
makes the final decisions for his or her budget proposal.

The Governor’s Budget - By law, as the chief executive officer of
the state, the Governor must propose a biennial budget in December of
even-numbered years, the month before the Legislature convenes in
regular session. The Governor’s budget is his or her proposed spending
and taxation plan for the biennium.

The Legislative Budget Process - After receiving the Governor’s
budget proposal, the Legislature reviews it and formulates its own budget
during the legislative session which begins in January. The chairs of the
Senate Ways and Means Committee and House Ways and Means
Committee work with their respective members and staffs to analyze the
Governor’s budget and develop recommendations and alternative
proposals. The transportation portions of the budget are developed by
separate committees in the House and Senate. By tradition, the initiation
of the budget alternates between chambers each biennium.

After each chamber has passed its version of the budget, the
differences between the two must be reconciled in the budget conference
process. Generally, six fiscal leaders representing both chambers and
both political parties meet as a conference committee to prepare one
legislative budget that is submitted to the full Legislature for final
passage and then ultimately delivered to the Governor for his or her
signature.

The Governor may veto all or part of the budget, thereby eliminating
funding for certain activities; however, the Governor cannot add money
for an activity for which the Legislature provided no funding. Only after
the Legislature passes a budget and the Governor signs it has the state
created a real budget.

Supplemental Budgets - Each year, the Legislature considers
changes to the biennial budget in what is called a Supplemental Budget.
Generally, such changes represent mid-course corrections to the two-year
spending plans to account for changes in school enrollments, prison
populations, public assistance caseloads, or significant changes in the
economy of the state.