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Budget team says it's close to a deal 5/31/03
Olympia, WA - State budget negotiators are close to agreement on
a no-new-taxes plan that could fall into place as soon as today, letting
lawmakers return to the Capitol as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday to
vote on it. "I believe we're going to be able to call people in next Wednesday ... and maybe be out by Friday," said Sen. Darlene Fairley of Lake Forest Park, the top Senate Democratic negotiator. The reason for optimism is a counterproposal offered by Senate Republicans a day after the House Democrats offered a plan. Lawmakers today enter their 19th day of a 30-day special session after failing to bridge a $2.6 billion budget deficit during their 105-day regular session. House Democratic negotiator Helen Sommers, D-Seattle, did not return a request for comment, and Senate negotiators declined to discuss details of the newest proposal, citing promises they made to colleagues. But negotiators acknowledged that a dispute continues between the Democrat-led House and Republican-led Senate over how big the raises should be for home care workers, who earn $7.68 an hour. About 26,000 of the workers have formed a union that has negotiated a contract worth more than $2 per hour in raises. That contract would cost $98 million to fulfill and has other features that many lawmakers dislike. Legislators have agreed tentatively to reject the contract and to provide significantly less money. Meanwhile, the House has lowered its funding request to about $35 million for raises, and the Senate has countered with an offer that includes pay increases for home care workers who don't belong to the state's new union but work for agencies such as Catholic Community Services. Pay increases for state employees and most of the state's teachers have been off the table for weeks. But raises remain a possibility for teachers in their first seven years of service. Negotiators also are settling on an agreement requiring state employees and teachers to pay 17 percent of the cost of their health-insurance premiums, up from about 14 percent today but less than some earlier proposals. Disagreements remain over prenatal care for illegal immigrants, a nursing-home bed tax and public health district funding. |