Washington state is looking at a 10 to 12 billion budget deficit.

Everybody has a budget, right? I have a budget, my boss has a budget, The company I work for has a budget and the state of Washington has a budget. But unlike my budget, the state's budget is unbelievably out of control. The most recent estimate is that it's going to be over budget by somewhere between 10 to 12 billion over the next four years. 

According to axios.com,
‘Washington state is facing a projected budget shortfall of $10 billion to $12 billion over four years, leaving state lawmakers with a big money problem to solve when they return to Olympia in January. Why it matters: To close the projected budget gap, the Legislature will likely need to cut spending, raise taxes, or some mixture of both.’ 

Now I don't know anybody that says ohh yeah, let's just raise taxes and then they just forget about it. Ohh no, nobody wants to pay more taxes. However, if the thing that we want to get done is important enough, then I guess we bite the bullet, pay a little more taxes and get it done. Like education for instance. Our kids need to come out of school prepared to go into the real world and I'm not sure that we're doing that particularly well right now. My kids are all grown up, so I don't have any kids in school, but I do have grandkids and they're in school and I want them to be prepared for this new world we're living in. 

The current Washington state budget for the next two years, spends about $71 billion. And everyone in government has been notified that some serious cutting is going to have to be made. Where is that shortfall going to be made? UI have no clue. We can make some guesses, but I'm not even going to do that.  

I'm just going to cross my fingers and hope that they get it right. 

Washington state faces budget deficit of $10B-$12B - Axios Seattle
Budget reductions FAQ | Office of Financial Management
State agency savings options for fiscal year 2025 and 2025-27 biennium | Office of Financial Management