A Step Backwards: The Impact of Washington’s Budget Cuts on Economic Security
All week we’ve been examining the effects that two years of budget cuts have had on key priorities in our state. As we face more difficult decisions, beginning with the across-the-board budget cuts expected to be announced by the Governor next week, it’s important to remember the cuts we’ve made and the impacts they’ve had.
Voters in November may want to keep these cuts in mind when they decide on a series of ballot measures that would force further budget cuts. Those additional cuts would move us even further away from our values as Washingtonians.
Today, we examine the effects the budget cuts have already had on:
Economic security
We all need public supports and services that provide avenues to economic security. Supports such as child care and health care are often needed to make employment practical and possible. And for those who can’t work or have lost their jobs, help is sometimes needed to meet basic needs. The resilience of our communities and our state depends on how well we ensure economic security for all.
Goals for the state budget that will help us achieve economic security include:
• Providing work supports and assistance meeting basic needs.
The budgets for agencies focused on these goals account for about four percent of the current NGF+FR budget* (Figure 1A). In total, the budget for these goals has been reduced by $141 million dollars (a 9.7 percent cut) in the current biennium (Figure 5). The result in a step backward on investments that provide financial supports during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
Provide work supports and assistance meeting basic needs
Financial assistance for persons who are temporarily unable to work due to disability has been scaled back in the current budget. (This assistance is provided through the Disability Lifeline program, previously called GA-U. Information on medical assistance provided through this program is included above.) The first round of cuts ($25 million) focused on achieving savings by aggressively facilitating transfers to federal programs and through a change in how earned income is calculated. The 2010 legislature significantly altered this program, imposing time limits (24 months within a five-year period), improving transitions to federally-funded programs, and imposing stricter chemical dependency requirements. These changes are expected to result in a 13 percent reduction in the average number of clients being served by the program and reduce the budget by $12 million.
The need for WorkFirst, a program that provides financial and employment services to struggling families, has risen sharply during the economic downturn. New federal funding has been made available to help defray the cost of rising caseloads and in the 2010 session, $17 million was appropriated to maintain these services. But WorkFirst has also seen significant cuts. First, there was a reduction in state funding of $69 million through administrative reductions and caseload management. Reductions totaling $24 million in the supplemental budget include suspending the Community Works Program, decreasing job search and work requirements (lowering child care expenditures), and increasing sanctions of participants.
In August, Governor Gregoire announced further cuts to WorkFirst, totaling $51 million (not included in the figures above).4 The eligibility threshold for child care subsidies will be lowered. Fewer extensions will be granted to families who have reached the five-year time limit. Cuts will also be made to services that help clients find and maintain employment, education, and training.
It’s in this context that voters will decide our state’s future in November. Measures like I-1107, which would repeal modest increases in non-essential items like candy, soda, bottled water and beer, or liquor privatization initiatives I-1100 and I-1105, would further reduce our ability as a community to help those struggling in this economy.
Another measure, I-1053, would allow a minority of legislators to cause gridlock and prevent our ability to take reasonable steps to preserve economic security.
Read the entire policy paper, "A Step Backward: The 2009-11 State Budget."
*This report focuses on the part of the state budget known as the “Near General Fund,” which in the current biennium includes the state General Fun and the Education Legacy Trust Fund. Also included is a newly created fund called the Washington Opportunity Pathways Account, which funds certain efforts in early learning and higher education. The combination of these funds is referred to here as the Near-General Fund plus Federal Recovery.
