Governor pitches budget plan with $2.5B in new spending

By Jerry Cornfield / Washington State Standard

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Wednesday outlined a plan to boost state spending by nearly $2.5 billion in the next 18 months with the largest sums devoted to increasing behavioral health services, reducing homelessness, and combating climate change.

His proposal relies on higher-than-expected tax collections and robust proceeds from the sale of pollution allowances. It would supplement spending in the operating, capital and transportation budgets adopted by the Legislature earlier this year. Washington runs on two-year budget cycles with the current one ending June 30, 2025.

The three-term Democratic governor wants to pour another $1 billion into programs in the $69.8 billion operating budget. No new taxes are proposed.

Nearly half the increase, $448.7 million, is earmarked for increasing capacity in the state’s behavioral health system through the hiring of staff and addition of treatment beds for youth and adults. Another $140 million is sought for addressing homelessness and expanding housing and $64 million is to deal with the deadly spread of fentanyl, a powerful opioid Inslee called the “nuclear weapon of drugs.”

https://www.heraldnet.com/northwest/governor-pitches-budget-plan-with-2-5b-in-new-spending/