State budget information

The 2009-11 budget recently approved by the Legislature contains significant pain and sacrifice for Washingtonians. In the weeks, months and years to come, Washingtonians will feel the impacts of the hard decisions required to weather this deep national recession.

Even those programs and services left intact in this budget must adjust for significant reductions in "administrative" spending, which means there will be fewer people to deliver the services in their current forms.

The Department of Early Learning is making several reductions in programs and services in response to the 2009-2011 operating budget, including:

  • A 2.1 percent reduction in enrollment for the state-funded preschool program (the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program, or ECEAP) and a reduction in agency administration costs related to the program. This means 173 fewer enrollment slots around the state for the 2009-2010 school year. DEL worked with partners to determine how to take these reductions in the way that least impacted children and families. The criteria included:
    • Reduce the low-enrolled slots from this last school year. This consisted of 13 slots.
    • Do not reduce slots for any contractors that serve 20 or fewer children.
    • Ask contractors to voluntarily reduce slots where they are difficult to fill, difficult to operate within ECEAP Performance Standards, or where they may be replaced with Head Start slots. This consisted of 141 slots.
    • Use data to determine the level of services for children in high poverty areas and limit the number of reductions in these locations.
  • Offering fewer licensing orientation sessions around the state for individuals interested in becoming a licensed child care provider. Orientation sessions may be offered online in the future.
  • Reduction of several positions at agency headquarters.

The budget also prepared our state for a 21st century economy—especially in the monumental steps the Governor and Legislature took to build a transportation system that will create thousands of jobs and help us emerge stronger from this recession.

To learn more, please visit the Governor’s Web site.

Washington State has a two-year budget, which is made up of three spending areas:

  • Operating budget (pays for day-to-day operations for the state, including public education, public safety, human services, higher education and more)
  • Transportation budget (pays for projects that help ensure our roads and public transportation systems move goods and people effectively throughout the state)
  • Capital budget (pays for buying and maintaining public buildings and lands)

The Governor issues a budget proposal in December of even-numbered years before a 105-day legislative session (every two years). The Governor creates this proposal after reviewing budget requests from state agencies, and making his or her decisions about spending priorities.

Both chambers of the Legislature (the House and the Senate) issue their own proposals during session, pass their own version of the budget, and then come to agreement on one budget through a conference process. That budget is voted upon and sent to the Governor for signature. The Governor may veto all or part of the budget, but may not add funding for an activity the Legislature did not fund.