A Step Backwards: The Impact of Washington’s budget cuts on Thriving Communities

This week, we’re digging deeper into what $4.3 billion in cuts have already meant for our state’s priorities.

As a number of important decisions are made over the next few weeks, it will be important to remember how much we’ve already sharply reduced our priorities -- including state investments in maintaining our quality of life and future.

Next week, the Governor is expected to announce deep across the board budget cuts on top of what we’ve cut the last two years. In addition, voters in November will decide on a several ballot measures that could further reduce state resources and pile on even more budget cuts.

Today we look at what we’ve already cut from preserving:

Thriving communities

Public investments that maintain our state infrastructure and protect our natural resources create thriving communities. Public structures such as transportation, communications, justice, and the arts keep our state economy in motion, our neighborhoods safe, and our cultural life vibrant. To create thriving communities we will need to do more than address short-term needs. We will need thoughtful, long-term planning and sustainable use of resources.

Goals for the state budget that will help us achieve thriving communities include:

• Promoting balanced and sustainable economic growth;

• Protecting public safety and ensure equal justice; and

• Ensuring an efficient and transparent state government.

The budgets for agencies focused on these goals account for about 16 percent of the current NGF+FR* budget. In total, the budget for these goals has been reduced by $418 million (a 7.3 percent cut) in the current biennium (Figure 3B). The most significant cuts were in natural resource protection and public safety and justice, areas that are important to our quality of life.

Promoting balanced and sustainable economic growth

The current budget includes significant cuts in the state’s investment in natural resource protection, a key part of our efforts to promote balanced and sustainable economic growth. The NGF+FR* budget for natural resource agencies (not including the Departments of Ecology and Agriculture, which are considered under “Healthy People and Environment,” below) was reduced by $111 million (32 percent). $42 million of the total are cuts made to state parks that are offset with new revenue sources. Not including the cuts to state parks, total budget reductions are around 20 percent in this area.

These cuts include a 31.3 percent reduction to the budget for the Department of Fish and Wildlife, cuts that will directly affect the agency’s ability to manage wildlife, protect habitats, enforce laws that protect resources and endangered species, provide educational opportunities, and so on. Reductions to the Department of Natural Resources (14.9 percent) will likely affect forest management, natural area planning, and other key programs. (The Natural Resources budget also includes an $11.5 million increase in funding for emergency fire suppression.)

The Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development was renamed and refocused as the Department of Commerce. The NGF+FR budget for the department was reduced by $55 million, (38 percent). However, this figure includes a number of general fund cuts that were offset by other sources of funding (such as the transfer of funding for the Homeless Family Shelter Program to the Home Security Fund) as well as a number of programs being transferred to other departments as part of the switch to Commerce (such as the transfer of the Emergency Food Program to the Department of Agriculture). There were, however, a number of significant cuts in programs that assist local government, provide important community services, and invest in economic development.

Protecting public safety and ensure equal justice

Budget cuts to public safety total $290 million (10.7 percent), including significant cuts to corrections and juvenile rehabilitation.

Juvenile Rehabilitation funding has been reduced by 13 percent ($30 million). Enhanced parole services for juvenile offenders convicted of crimes including manslaughter, robbery, and assault was eliminated. These services helped youth navigate issues with family, mental health, substance abuse, housing, and employment. Facilities, including the Maple Lane School and community transitional facilities, were closed. Other facilities will see significant staff reductions. Funding for juvenile courts was reduced.

NGF-FR* funding for the Department of Corrections was reduced by 10 percent ($190 million). Community supervision has been eliminated for many misdemeanant offenders. Programs designed to assist offenders’ reentry into society were scaled back. Sentencing policies have been altered and the use of home detention expanded. The budget also adopts recommendations to downsize and close certain correctional facilities.

The Governor is soon expected to make across-the-board cuts in response to the continuing recession. In addition, the passage of 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 imperil our ability to maintain thriving communities.

Further, I-1053 would allow a minority of legislators to cause gridlock and prevent our ability to take reasonable steps to support our communities.

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.