Accounting gimmick is big part of state House budget moves
19.05.12
OLYMPIA — House Democrats proposed a budget Tuesday that closes a $1 billion shortfall without borrowing money or asking voters for a sales-tax increase, but would allow local governments to boost taxes.
Their plan balances the current two-year budget largely by pushing certain payments to public schools into the next budget cycle, reducing funding to local governments and making more than $400 million in spending cuts.
"We've been working on this since October to try to come to a place where we have a budget that really doesn't damage the state over the long run, but gets us through the worst economic downturn since World War II," House Ways and Means Chairman Ross Hunter, D-Medina, said.
However, Rep. Gary Alexander, the ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, said delaying hundreds of millions in state payments to K-12 schools simply sets the Legislature up for another large shortfall next year.
"They just kind of kick the can down the road," he said.
Source: The Seattle Times