Washington’s Gregoire Calls Special Session to Cut Budget
September 22, 2011, 2:58 PM EDTBy Jennifer Oldham
(Adds budget cuts starting in second paragraph.)
Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Washington Governor Christine Gregoire said she’ll call the Legislature back into session on Nov. 28 to cut $2 billion of the $32 billion biennial budget because of falling revenue.
The target is $600 million more than the $1.4 billion shortfall projected by the state’s Economic and Revenue Forecast Council on Sept. 15, to provide a reserve, the governor told reporters at a briefing today in Olympia, the capital.
“Our work will be brutal,” said Gregoire, 64, a Democrat who has said she won’t seek a third term. “My only option is across-the-board cuts, and that option is unacceptable. Solving this budget crisis will require the Legislature to act.”
About 77 percent of spending is off-limits to reductions because of requirements in state and federal laws, the governor said. That means most of the cuts will come in the $8.7 billion of the budget earmarked for programs including education, social services, health care and prisons, Gregoire said.
--Editors: Pete Young, Ted Bunker
To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer Oldham in Denver at joldham1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Tannenbaum at mtannen@bloomberg.net
