New revenue forecast could break logjam in Olympia

OLYMPIA — Washington’s economic outlook is improving, in part because of better home sales, and the state could have an extra $231 million over the next two years for its general operating budget. That’s the word from the Revenue and Forecast Council, which believes previous projections, from March, were a bit low. While the additional revenue is a relatively small percentage of the state’s operating budget, which tops $32 billion, negotiators who have been locked in budget talks for weeks predicted it will generate an agreement relatively soon and prevent a partial government shutdown in July. “We’ll get closer as a result of this,” Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said. “It should break one of the final logjams,” Sen. Andy Hill, R-Redmond, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said. Read more on the Spin Control blog.