March 12, 2021
Legislative Session Update
This week marks the halfway point of the 2021 “long” biennial legislative session. We are currently tracking 316 bills and looking ahead towards a busy remainder of session. Major policy topics this year have included diversity, equity, and inclusion; climate and sustainability; and health care. We have posted a full list of bills the University…
January 21, 2021
UW Fast Facts 2021 – Now Available!
A redesigned version of UW Fast Facts is now available. You can find it on the UW Fast Facts page and in the Quick Links bar on the right. This year, we have incorporated a number of new dashboards to provide a more complete picture of where we are as a University. A special thank you to…
November 20, 2020
November Revenue Forecast Shows Continued, but Cautious, Growth
The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the economic outlook in Washington state. The June Revenue Forecast, released by the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council (ERFC), forecasted a precipitous economic decline as a result of the full shutdown in spring and early summer. Fortunately, the September Revenue Forecast and the November Revenue Forecast, released Wednesday, have shown a…
September 24, 2020
September Revenue Forecast Shows Promising Recovery
The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the economic outlook in Washington state. Fortunately, September Revenue Forecast, released yesterday by the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council (ERFC), details modest growth. This stands in stark contrast to the June Revenue Forecast, which forecasted a precipitous economic decline as a result of the full shutdown throughout spring and…
June 23, 2020
June Forecast Outlines Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on State Revenue
The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the economic outlook in Washington state. The projections detailed below demonstrate the sharp decline that the state economy has suffered in recent months, which stands in sharp contrast to the long period of growth that preceded it. In order to account for the losses discussed in the forecast below,…
May 6, 2020
Economic and Revenue Forecast Council Releases April Budget Outlook
On Thursday, April 30, the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council met to review and approve the April 2020 budget outlook. The budget outlook used the February revenue forecast and contained no major changes to revenues or appropriations for the 2019-21 biennium. During their meeting, the Council acknowledged that there will likely be changes to the…
February 28, 2020
House and Senate Proposed 2020 Supplemental Operating and Capital Budgets
Earlier this week, leadership in the House and Senate released their 2020 supplemental state budget proposals, which include technical corrections and other changes to the enacted 2019-21 biennial budgets. An OPB brief outlining these proposals is available on the OPB Briefs page. We will update the brief in the event that proposals are amended, and…
February 20, 2020
February Revenue Forecast Shows Continued Growth
The Economic and Revenue Forecast Council (ERFC) released their February revenue forecast on February 19. The projected Near General Fund-State (GF-S) revenue forecast increased by $606 million for the 2019-21 biennium and by $536 million for the 2021-23 biennium. The report projects higher than forecasted revenue compared to the November revenue forecast. Here is a quick summary…
December 20, 2019
Governor Inslee’s Proposed 2020 Supplemental Operating and Capital Budgets
On Wednesday, Governor Jay Inslee released his proposed 2019- 21 supplemental operating and capital budgets. The budgets include corrections and technical changes to the 2019-21 biennial budgets passed in April 2019. For a detailed analysis and summary of the Governor’s proposals, or to look back at OPB’s brief on the biennial budgets, please see OPB’s…
November 22, 2019
November Revenue Forecast Shows Increased Revenue, but Slowing Growth
The Economic and Revenue Forecast Council (ERFC) released their November revenue forecast on November 20. The final tabulation of Near General Fund-State (GF-S) revenue for the 2017-19 biennium was $46.081 billion, $5 million less than estimated in September. Projected revenue collections increased by $299 million for the 2019-21 biennium and by $181 million for the 2021-23…