Enacted Supplemental Budget – Fiscal Year 2025
In 2023, Washington enacted a biennial budget for fiscal 2024-2025. Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed the state’s supplemental budget, with partial vetoes, on March 29, 2024. The enacted supplemental operating budget provides for two-year total fund spending of $140.9 billion, and general fund spending (subject to outlook) of $71.9 billion. This includes supplemental changes of $7.3 billion in additional total budgeted funds and $2.1 billion in additional near-general funds. The supplemental budget is based on a February 2024 baseline revenue forecast for the biennium of $67.0 billion, including general fund-state, Education Legacy Trust Account, Washington Opportunity Pathways Account, Workforce Education Investment Account, and Fair Start for Kids Account. Revenues for fiscal 2025 are estimated at $34.1 billion, a 3.5 percent increase from the fiscal 2024 estimate. As of the February forecast, the state was projecting an ending balance at the end of the biennium of $3.74 billion. Additionally, after transfers, the state projected a Budget Stabilization Account ending balance of $1.35 billion and a Washington Rescue Plan Transition Account of $798 million, resulting in projected total balances (before supplemental budget changes) of $5.88 billion. An updated revenue forecast will be issued in June that will reflect revised revenue estimates and balance levels that incorporate supplemental changes.
The supplemental operating and capital budgets increase funding for behavioral health services, K-12 education programs, housing, and climate action. The budget along with a series of separate policy bills aim to expand access and build new capacity for behavioral health treatment, including the University of Washington’s first-in-the-nation teaching hospital for health care providers embarking on careers in integrated behavioral and physiological health treatment, while also creating more capacity through grants and other supports to community providers. For education, the supplemental budget raises the cap on special education funding, increases funding for school staffing, and funds renovation and construction projects to make school buildings healthier and more energy-efficient. Also included is funding to educate students statewide about the dangers of fentanyl. The supplemental budget also appropriates additional funding for housing for low-income communities and people with disabilities, as well as boosts investments for climate, environmental, and conservation programs.