No pay raises for school teachers in proposed state budget

OLYMPIA—State workers and people or businesses under contract to provide services to the state will receive no cost-of-living raises, according to the proposed state budget that hopes to cut a $2-billion deficit.

The two-year, $23-billion proposed General Fund budget, unveiled Tuesday by Gov. Gary Locke, also requires state-funded employees, including teachers and college and university employees, to pay a larger share of their health-insurance costs. It also continues to shrink the state workforce, reducing full-time positions by 2,500 by fiscal year 2005.

Locke said the proposed budget is priority-driven, using existing tax revenue to pay for services that matter most to Washington citizens: education, economic recovery, public safety and basic support for the state’s most vulnerable children and adults. No general tax increase is proposed and spending is cut by $2.4 billion.

The reductions include $2.1 billion in the state operating budget and $275 million in the Health Services Account, which funds state and medical programs.

The proposed budget requires changes to three voter-approved initiatives that increased spending for education and health care. These initiatives are Initiatives 728, 732 and 773.

Initiative 773 increased cigarette tax to pay for an expansion of the Basic Health Plan, which provided insurance to low-income residents. According to the initiative, the money could only be spent to increase enrollment above 125,000 people.

Locke, according to the proposed budget, sought to use money under Initiative 773 to pay for enrollees under the mandated cap to avoid deep reductions in the plan.

Initiative 732 mandated annual cost-of-living raises for school teachers while Initiative 728 earmarked money from the lottery, property taxes and budget reserves to reducing class sizes in the 2004-2005 school year. Locke sought to suspend these initiatives.

Under the law, a majority vote of the Legislature could amend an initiative two years after being approved by voters. Initiatives 732 and 728 passed in 2000 while Initiative 773 passed in 2001.

“This budget takes a close look at everything our state government does, prioritized spending and funds the programs that get the results people want from their government,” Locke said.

“The budget I’ve proposed shows the citizens of this state what their tax money can buy, and it show what we cannot afford in this difficult economy,” he added. “We laid the foundation for a smarter, more visionary government that will be better able to deliver the most important services now and in the future. We laid the foundation for more trust in government because people can better see exactly what programs and services we are buying and not buying.”

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