PHOENIX - Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has released a nearly $47 billion 2017–19 budget proposal, which includes fully funding K-12 education and some $1 billion for school construction.
Education composes more than half of state spending Inslee proposed in the budget he released Wednesday, a key challenge after the state Supreme Court ruled in 2012 the state was violating its constitutional responsibility to adequately fund compulsory education. The governor is proposing to fully fund Washington's K-12 education system with one of the largest K-12 education funding packages in state history: a roughly $2.7 billion package of state money sent to local school districts. The infusion of state funding would enable school districts to reduce local school taxes by at least $250 million statewide per year, according the budget proposal.
The budget calls for about $3.9 billion of new bond debt, money which the newly re-elected Democrat Inslee proposes to spend on mental health programs, schools, infrastructure, affordable housing, and other projects. He wants to pay for the increase in state spending, an increase from the previous biennial budget of $38 billion, with by closing tax loopholes and adding new revenue sources. That would include a new capital gains tax on the sale of stocks, bonds and other assets, increasing the business and occupation tax rate that is applied to a broad range of personal and professional services, and enacting a new tax on carbon pollution associated with the production and consumption of fossil fuels.
About half the revenue generated by the new carbon tax would be directed toward K-12 education.
"We face an opportunity — and an obligation — in this upcoming session to not just put more money into the system we already have, but to invest in the kind of education system all our children deserve," Inslee said.
Inslee's budget also places a strong emphasis on mental health spending, including $99.7 million for 356 new community alternative placement beds that prioritize the transition of clients ready for discharge from the state psychiatric hospitals and $67.5 million to provide 180 additional psychiatric staff at the state's two psychiatric hospitals.
"We have tremendous unmet needs in mental health in Washington state," Dr. Jrgen Untzer, professor and chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington said in a statement released by the Inslee administration.
It is up to the state legislature to ultimately compose and vote on a final biennial budget. Republicans technically lost control of the state's Senate in November, but retain functional control because one Democrat caucuses with Republicans. Democrats hold a slim majority in the state House of Representatives.
Any new bonds would be issued under newly-elected Republican State Treasurer Duane Davidson.
