Washington House Democrats

Budget recommendation will attract jobs, streamline government

Expenditures would help create a strong environment for economic opportunity

February 21, 2007

OLYMPIA – Funding for local economic development, cleaning up the Puget Sound, and improving justice programs are among the state budget expenditures recommended today by a newly created appropriations subcommittee in the Washington House of Representatives.

The purpose of the Appropriations Subcommittee on General Government and Audit Review is to “make government work effectively, efficiently and transparently,” said Chair Kelli Linville (D-Bellingham). “This new committee aimed to provide more direct services to Washingtonians. I believe we hit the target and wrote a strong budget recommendation. This recommendation is about justice, accountability and jobs.”

Streamlining government has also been a focus of the subcommittee and one of its biggest initiatives doesn’t even have a price tag attached to it.

The committee has directed the Department of Information Services to look for ways to reduce the hundreds of millions of dollars state government is spending on computer services and information technology support each biennium. DIS will consolidate, coordinate and standardize computer services and will be working with state agencies to eliminate duplication of computer services.

For the state budget, the committee made $1.46 billion in recommended expenditures. They include:

• $9 million to market Washington as a tourism destination.
• $5 million for local economic development councils.
• $500,000 for the Office of Farmland Preservation to help family farmers.
• $1.9 million to small forest landowners to keep them in business, and keep our forests intact.
• $2.1 million for the Office of Regulatory Assistance to help small businesses cut through government red tape.
• $1.2 million for grants to local governments to streamline the business permit process.
• $695,000 to build up Small Business Development Centers which give valuable assistance to our small businesses.

“Government should create a good environment for economic opportunities,” Linville said. "Our committee prioritized investments in programs that retain, expand and attract jobs, especially in underserved areas like small businesses, asset-building, and agriculture.”

• $4.4 million to establish the Puget Sound Partnership – a new state agency to coordinate and focus the efforts to restoring the health of Puget Sound by 2020. With additional funds, a total of $5.5 million will get the agency operational.
• $3.78 million to provide opportunities for people to learn first hand about the conditions in Puget Sound and participate in the clean-up efforts. This money will leverage a total $4.5 million for this education work.

• $9 million to improve the quality of the public defender system.
• $6 million to train and retain more volunteer supervisors for the Court Appointed Special Advocates program so that all of the 13,000 abused and neglected children in dependency cases in Washington state will have guardian ad litem as mandated by law.
• $4.8 million to expand civil legal aid for low-income families.

“As policymakers are reviewing this budget process, we’re finding areas that need attention, and establishing solutions that will ensure future efficiencies and better ways for our departments to serve the public,” said Rep. Mark Ericks (D-Bothell), vice-chair of the committee.

The budget recommendation will have a public hearing tonight in the subcommittee, and then moves to the House Appropriations Committee.

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Staff: Larry Clark, 360.786.7214, Clark.Larry@leg.wa.gov