During today’s Economic and Revenue Forecast Council meeting, chief forecaster Dr. Arun Raha twice referred to the good news of Ken Griffey, Jr. coming back to the Mariners.
That was all the good news Dr. Raha provided, as he updated state revenue numbers. For the remainder of the current biennium (which ends June 30) lawmakers must find another 700 million dollars in savings. For the next biennium, the budget shortfall has ballooned to over 8 billion dollars. Some help will come from the federal stimulus plan, and lawmakers may tap the state rainy day fund sooner than expected, but it is clear that additional cuts are on the way.
Lawmakers will still receive a full, updated forecast in March, but the economic trends (lower consumer spending, reduced sales tax revenues) make a happy surprise unlikely.
Did we mention that Ken Griffey, Jr. is returning to the Mariners?
UPDATE: You can see a PDF copy of the presentation made by Dr. Raha here.