The 2009-11 Biennial Budget
In her January
inaugural address, Governor Gregoire asked the
Legislature to summon the courage and the spirit of
sacrifice to confront the challenge of a generation, and
that’s exactly what they did.
The responsible budget
recently approved by the Legislature contains
significant pain and sacrifice for Washingtonians. In
the weeks, months and years to come, Washingtonians will
feel the impacts of the hard decisions we were required
to make after our mortgage and financial markets set off
the deep national recession in which we find ourselves.
Even those programs and
services left intact in this budget must adjust for
significant reductions in “administrative” spending,
which means there will be fewer people to deliver the
services in their current forms.
We also prepared our
state for a 21st century economy — especially
in the monumental steps we took to build a
transportation system that will create thousands of jobs
and help us emerge stronger from this recession. What we
did is truly monumental — not just for the
most-populated part of this state but for Washington’s
economic future as a whole. The Legislature also moved
forward on a long-range strategy to revitalize the ferry
service by constructing new vessels while keeping fares
affordable.
The Department of Social and Health
Services is closely analyzing the budget to determine
the reductions in service that will be required as a
result of the spending reductions. We will provide
this information to you as it comes available.
These next two years are all about
austerity and sacrifice, but equally, about wise and
careful choices to ensure we come out of this recession
strong. We appreciate your help as we work to
ensure a solid foundation for our children and
grandchildren.
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