We're heading toward springtime in an odd-numbered year -- budget time in Olympia. Legislators are squeezed between constituents who want more services and taxpayers who'd like their bills cut.
Of course, constituents and taxpayers are the same people thinking about two sides of the budget problem. Sometimes people have a funny idea of how the state government spends our money. Those who'd like to decrease spending, either to lower taxes or to make room for new programs, need to first understand where the money goes now.
The state budget is easily understood once you know that it has two big pieces, two modest size pieces, and not much of anything else. What's more, none of these pieces are ones we're collectively willing to do without.
The state general fund accounts for about 10 cents of every dollar produced in Washington. (By the way, Washington is a very average state in terms of combined state and local expenditure.)
This general fund budget is about $26 billion. (Transportation and capital spending are separate.). I like to picture a clock face to form a mental picture of how the money is divvied up among different programs. A program that takes up several "hours" of spending is big; one that occupies only a few "minutes" isn't so big.
Article IX of Washington's constitution begins "It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders." So it's unsurprising that the No. 1 use of state money is K-12 education. The K-12 slice of the state general fund runs from 12 to 5 o'clock - a bit less than half of total spending.
The second mega-slice goes to social and health services, running from 5 o'clock to 8:30. About 40 percent of DSHS spending goes to medical assistance payments and another 15 percent supports long-term care. Economic services, food stamps and other kinds of traditional support for needy families, is another 15 percent of the DSHS budget. The other three noticeable pieces are money for developmental disabilities, mental health and children's services.
The K-12 and DSHS chunks cover two-thirds of our clock. Two pieces cover most of the rest of discretionary spending: higher education and jails.
The hour and a half from 8:30 to 10:00 goes to pay for higher education. The biggest single hunk takes care of our community college system. After that comes spending on the University of Washington, Washington State University, the other state universities, and student aid.
Washington spends 45 minutes worth of our general fund budget on "corrections" -- that is, on locking people up -- bringing the accounting up to a quarter before 11.
Added to these four spending areas, there's a 45-minute segment for bond repayment and interest payments. We don't get any services here, but we don't have any choice about this spending, either.
Starting at 12, we've worked our way almost all around the clock, reaching half past 11. While the state spends on hundreds more programs, the amount devoted to each is relatively insignificant compared to the two big and three modest pieces we just discussed.
If a legislator, or a citizen, wants to see a cut, he has to take it from one of the four major programs -- K-12, DSHS, higher education and corrections -- because that's the only place the money is.
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Dick Startz is Castor Professor of Economics and Davis Distinguished Scholar at the University of Washington. He can be reached at econcol@u.washington.edu.
This column appeared in the following publication:
Tacoma News Tribune, March 8, 2005