Overview
This year’s budget is a challenging one – lawmakers are looking to close a $14 billion deficit over the next four years. They are constitutionally required to develop a budget that balances for at least four years. The two year budget is also known as the biennial budget, and the two years after that is also known as the “four year outlook.” Both proposals rely on a mix of deep cuts and new progressive revenue.
While we know that lawmakers are working incredibly hard, we are extremely disappointed at the scale of cuts and the prioritization of new spending to incarcerate youth rather than to educate them. While we are very glad to see a real commitment from the Senate to special education funding and addressing school’s spiraling supply and operating costs, these come at the expense of other programs seeking to ensure students furthest from educational justice (including students receiving special education services) can show up to school ready to learn. Read on for more specifics – and we’ll continue to update this information and link to partners’ analyses as we learn more.
Want to get deeply in the weeds? You can find all the budget documents at https://fiscal.wa.gov/statebudgets/operatingbudgetmain.
Another great resource is this comprehensive side by side comparison of the budget.
K-12 Education
The Senate and House proposals both make deep cuts to many existing K-12 education funds, while adding funding in other areas. In total, the House K-12 budget makes a net cut of about $48 million dollars from “maintenance level” over two years, while the Senate K-12 budget adds about $1 billion to “maintenance level.”
- Key additions:
- Maintenance, Supplies, and Operating Costs – the Senate budget proposes an additional $175 million for the biennium for basic operational costs that schools have that are rising even faster than inflation. The House budget does not include any additional funding.
- Special Education – The Senate budget proposes almost $1 billion in new spending for special education to implement the provisions outlined in SB 5263, including eliminating the special education cap and increasing the multiplier, and SB 5253 which ensures special education services through age 21. The House budget has a much lower increase – $153 million to change the multiplier at a lower rate than the senate, and adds about $16 million for pilots and demonstration sites of inclusive teaching and inclusionary practices.
- Levy equalization – The House budget adds $216 million to increase the amount that districts can receive if they are eligible for state funds to supplement local levy dollars. This is pursuant to legislation that would also grant authority to districts to increase their levy amounts.
- Key cuts:
- OPSI grant funding – both the House and Senate fully eliminate discretionary OPSI grants and fail to include continued funding for the Ninth Grade Success Initiative. The Senate delays the cut until fiscal year 2027, cutting $48.5 million in the next two years. The House budget cuts $138 million and begins those cuts starting July 1, 2025.
- Career Connected Learning – both the House and Senate cut significantly from Career Connected Learning. The House reduces funding for OSPI by 80% (an $8.3 million cut), while the Senate reduces it by $4.5 million. The House also cuts CCL grants in the Economic Security Department by 80% (an $11 million cut). The Senate cuts these grants by $9.7 million. Both budgets move funds between accounts.
- Administrative cuts – both the House and Senate do some level of administrative reduction. The Senate budget proposes a 6% across the board admin cut to OSPI and other state education agencies. These cuts total $4.8m. The Senate also cuts $8.5 million out of Educational Services District staff. The House makes lower cuts to administrative costs, eliminating $1.7 million from OSPI and reducing ESD travel budget by $1.8 million.
- School Improvement Program – the Senate budget eliminates $28.7 million in state funds provided to help struggling schools improve educational outcomes for students.
Higher Education
We don’t have as detailed a dive into the higher education budget but broadly, both budgets make across the board cuts to four year colleges (1% across the board in the Senate, 2% in the House), and to the state’s Community and Technical College system. Financial aid for many students is reduced, while tuition caps are increased.
Juvenile Justice
This is one of the most disappointing areas of the budget for us, as both the House and Senate double down on failed approaches to youth justice by expanding state prison beds for young people.
In response to overcrowding at Green Hill both budgets propose $27 million to staff a new youth prison facility. This facility will be on the grounds of Stafford Creek, an adult men’s prison, in the unit that previously served as the solitary confinement unit. So far, we remain skeptical of the proposed timeline to open (It has already been pushed back several months due to difficulty hiring), the remote location, the co-location with an adult facility, and the enormous expense at a time when we have so many other needs as a state.
In addition, both budgets also spend about $3.5 million to continue to contract with private security guards at Echo Glen. These guards (who are not state employees) have been in place for over two years while a fence is constructed around the facility. Last year, the legislature spent over $18 million on this private security contract.
Finally, an additional $1.5 million is included for the continued “warm closure” of Naselle, a former youth prison that was closed in 2023. Last biennium, the state spent $3.5 million on this “warm closure.”
Neither budget funds violence prevention, youth development, or pre-file diversion opportunities for young people.
In one silver lining, the Senate budget does fund SB 5296 at $5.4 million. This bill would allow judges more flexibility to keep young people convicted in juvenile court in community placements or in a local county detention facility rather than going for very short stays (30-90 days) to state prison. It also provides for a judge to review the case halfway through a sentence to juvenile prison. We believe this bill will significantly reduce the overcrowding at Green Hill and is much more aligned with the research about effective juvenile justice policy.
What’s Next
Each chamber will pass their version of the budget out of their fiscal committees quickly, and then quickly vote them out of the chamber. They will then go into “conference” where a team of negotiators from each chamber will go behind closed doors and work through the differences to develop a final budget. That final budget will be released close to the end of session and voted out of the chambers. The Governor also needs to sign the budget – and he has the ability to use his veto power.
