FERNDALE — State budget woes dominated the conversation at a packed legislative town hall featuring three state lawmakers in Ferndale on Saturday, March 15.
As Washington state faces down a $12 billion operating budget shortfall, Sen. Sharon Shewmake (D-Bellingham) stressed that difficult decision-making would lead to budget cuts and delayed implementation of certain programs. Some of those decisions have already been made, including the delay of expanding access to an early learning program.
A similarly packed town hall meeting, featuring Rep. Debra Lekanoff, Sen. Liz Lovelett and Rep. Alex Ramel, coincided in Mount Vernon.
In Ferndale, Shewmake and her House colleagues, Rep. Joe Timmons (D-Bellingham) and Rep. Alicia Rule (D-Blaine), said they would fight to preserve education funding for K-12 schools and Western Washington University.
“I was at Mount Baker School District when a parent was dropping off paper because the central office had run out. I remember thinking, ‘that’s no way to run a school district,’” Shewmake said. “…Are we making sure we’re taking care of the people that take care of our kids?”
Mount Baker School District is one of several school districts in the state facing tough challenges from continued budget cuts to dwindling state funding. The district estimates since 2020, state funding gaps have cost the district about $17.17 million.
That means no paper, larger class sizes and the potential decline of advanced college-level classes for high school students. Students involved in the Mount Baker’s Associated Student Body visited Olympia in February to speak with lawmakers about the impact of budget cuts.
“They are really one of the canaries in the coal mine,” Timmons said. “They are in binding conditions … and if we don’t listen to them, every student around the state is going to suffer.”
Shewmake said the working Senate budget proposal includes putting $1 billion toward K-12 schools in the state.
Public schools aren’t the only ones worried about what their funding could look like in the next state budget. Gov. Bob Ferguson called for 3% cuts to all four-year public universities and colleges across the state.
For Western Washington University, a 3% cut — about a $7.47 million reduction — could worsen the university’s already challenging financial situation. The university already has the lowest per-student funding of all four-year public institutions in the state. In response to the cuts, Western will be eliminating 74 positions, 36 of them currently vacant, in an effort to curb its deficit.
Timmons noted the members of the 42nd Legislative delegation had sent a letter to the state budget writers requesting that Western’s per-student funding level be matched with other universities.
Shewmake added she was hopeful Western could receive $10 million–15 million in the budget “so we don’t have to continue these destructive cuts.”
As lawmakers struggle to figure out which programs and department budgets to cut, they’re also struggling with finding revenue sources. Democrat leaders have said new taxes or tax increases will be necessary while state Republicans have said new taxes are unnecessary, according to the Washington State Standard.
Former Gov. Jay Inslee, when presenting his proposal to curb the looming deficit in December before he left office, proposed a 1% tax on an individual’s wealth above $100 million that could generate roughly $10 billion in the next four years.
Ferguson has not commented on tax increases and said during a press conference in late February that the state’s upcoming revenue forecast could impact those discussions.
Shewmake said Saturday that rather than rely on Washington state’s regressive sales and property tax structures, there are other ways to raise revenue.
“I’d like to see us rely less on things that really impact working people, people that are just getting by and instead ask those that are very, very wealthy to pay their fair share,” she said.
The Washington state Legislative session ends on April 27.
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
